His Angel
by ThenIAlwaysMeantIt
Summary: Emmett, Jasper, and Tristan find Rosalie getting beaten by two men. They save her and head out towards the hospital, but who is she? why was she getting beat up? So many unanswered questions...Read to find out! : all human, give it a chance, please.
1. knock out

**yeah i wrote this for English, we had to write a short story and he said it could be whatever we wanted and i was like ohh okay.**

**yeah it sucks BIG TIME. My teacher gave me an A though, because everyone else's sucked worse than mine he says xD hahaha. But i wanted to put it up anyways. well i hope some of you guys enjoy it :P**

**I don't own Twilight, or any of the characters either..i sure do wish I did though (:**

Emmett McCarthy sauntered the streets of Phoenix, Arizona with his friends, Tristan and Jasper. Emmett was the biggest of the three; he had dark brown curly hair, with muscles that would put any male model to shame. The other two were both tall and lean, but with slight muscle. The only difference was that Jasper had unruly, blonde wavy hair that was wind blown, and Tristan had straight hair that settled neatly on his forehead.

As they aimlessly strolled Phoenix, not particularly headed in a specific direction they came across a long narrow alley set between two shopping centers. Emmett and Tristan were going to just walk right by it when Jasper noticed a shadow of movement at the end of the alley way. So out of mere curiosity, he stopped Emmett and Tristan and said, "ey Em, Tris, stop a sec, I think I saw something in there".

So they begin walking but what they see by the far side of the alley makes them stop dead in their tracks, two big burly men kicking the crap out of a girl that looked just a few years younger than them. The girl had two deep gashes on the side of her face and bruises were already beginning to appear on her arms.

Impulsively, Emmett took a stance of protector and shoved one of the men off of her and hollered, "what the fucking hell are you doing?!" The big man, seeing the size of Emmett, cowered into the wall but immediately regained composure. He practically flew at Emmett but he swiftly dodged the attack. As the guy collapsed onto the cement floor of the alley, Jasper and Tristan ripped the other man-who was now taking blows to the girls head-off the kid and while Tristan held him, Jasper popped him straight in the throat causing him to double over, gagging. So then, Emmett took the chance to intervene, punching him square in the face, knocking him out instantly.

Tristan chuckled because he knew that that guy would be out for quite a while.

But as they momentarily forgot about the other thug, he darted off the pavement and tackled Jasper. The back of Jasper's head hit the hard floor at full force causing him to lose consciousness for a split second. Emmett saw this and rage stormed through his body. His arms got tense and rigid, doubling his muscles, making it seem as if his veins would erupt from the outside of his skin. His face was contorted into a mixture of ferocity and an outraged scowl. Then suddenly, in his booming voice, he roared, "Get off of him!" and snatched the man off his best friend. Without thinking Emmett straddled his chest and began punching him on the face, over and over again.

By the time Tristan had run over to Emmett after making sure the beaten girl was still alive, Emmett's knuckles were drenched in blood, and giving him just one last blow to the head, the guy was out cold.

About five to ten minutes later, as Jasper regained consciousness and rose to his feet, Emmett and Tristan jogged over to the girl who was shaking and cringing away in fear. "Please, I've had enough, don't hit me". The girl whimpered, "of course not", whispered Tristan, "now come on; let us take you somewhere safe".

As she slowly and cautiously nodded her bruised head, Emmett picked her up off the ground, leaving the two delinquents to die for all he cared, and raced out of the alley with Tristan and Jasper at his flank.


	2. Rosalie Lillian Hale

As they reached the entrance of the alley, Tristan was already on the phone giving directions to where they were.

As he hung up the phone, Jasper looked over at him questioningly and asked,

"Who was that?"

A grin spread over Tristan's face, "Jen, she's on her way."

What felt like a lifetime later, a yellow Camaro zoomed around the corner, racing towards them. Jasper's eyes were practically bulging out of their sockets, as Emmett thought, _whoa if looks could kill. _

The car made a screechy halt as the driver got out. "JENNIFER WHITLOCK WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU DRIVING MY NEW CAMARO?!" Jasper shrieked as he quickly circled the car making sure it had no scratches.

"Jazzy, best brother, relax. It was the only car in our garage, it's not like I was going to actually walk all the way over here" Jennifer scoffed.

Jasper tilted his head to the side and asked "And where was Alice?"

"Oh, she went to the grocery store to pick up a few things. Emmett practically empties out the refrigerator almost everyday damn day".

They all stifled a laugh but Emmett was the only one still serious, he was looking down at the beauty crying in his arms and said, "Guys! Did you all forget why we are here? Why you called Jen?!" he said through a tight jaw now looking straight at Tristan.

"Oh shit, yeah! Em, Jazz sit in the back with the girl, I'll sit up front with Jen.

"It looks like she might need stitches on these two gashes here", Emmett stated as he motioned towards her face. "Let's get her to a hospital, quick".

They arrived at the hospital of Phoenix twenty-minutes later, and in all dreadful twenty minutes the girl wouldn't speak a word.

Once again, Emmett carried her but this time through the hospital doors.

After signing a few papers they were all ushered to the waiting room when a middle-aged doctor arrived as they were about to sit down, "McCarthy, Emmett" the doctor said looking up from his clipboard, "this way please".

The others stayed behind as Emmett carried the girl into one of the hospital rooms.

"Hello, I'm Dr. McKinley, what's your name?" he said kneeling down to face the girl who was placed by Emmett on the crinkly paper of the hospital bed. She didn't respond, she just looked up at Emmett who was preparing himself to leave so that they could have their privacy.

As he was closing the door on his way out he heard and angelic but frightened voice stutter, "E-Emmett? Emmett! N-No please! Don't leave me here! Emmett!" she choked out. A confused Emmett immediately dashed back into the room and crouched down in front of her,

"Heey, I'm not leaving you…what's wrong?" he whispered to her as she sobbed into her hands.

"Let me sew up her cuts and then I'll give you two some time alone to talk, she seems only comfortable around you…I'll come back a little later".

After the girls gashes were all stitched up, McKinley left Emmett and her alone for a while.

Emmett sat in an extremely low chair directly in front of her causing her to seem a few inches taller than him, he chuckled, because he's such a _big_ guy, it's uncommon for someone to be taller than him.

She stared down at the white waxed floor with tears in her electric blue eyes while he just gazed at her, thinking _why would those men do such a monstrous thing to this angel? How can they be so cruel?_

He was so entranced in his thoughts, but the angel's voice broke him out of his reverie. "Emmett?" she sniffed, "I'm scared".

As soon as those words left her lips, she was in his arms cradled in his lap.

"You don't have to be scared anymore. I won't let any harm come to you. I'll protect you. I promise", he vowed, sincerity seeping through every word.

"Can you tell me what your name is?" he questioned softly.

"Rosalie Lillian Hale" she said, her bell like voice gaining confidence.

"Alright then Rosalie Hale, would you like to tell me what happened?" he looked at her straight in the eyes and couldn't look away. It was as if he could see into her soul.

"I-I-I can't", she whispered.

"Yes you can, you can trust me you know. I didn't save your life just for the fun of it". He immediately regretted his words as they escaped him; she began sobbing all over again.

"Shh, shh I'm sorry, sometimes I don't really think before I speak; forgive me if I hurt you?" Emmett pleaded.

She nodded, and looked up at him sharply, "I still can't tell you, h-he'll find me….and he'll kill me! No!..No! Don't let him get me! Please he'll kill me!" at this she began shaking uncontrollably and screaming in Emmett's arms.

As Emmett tried to calm and soothe her, she was still shaking and thrashing against him, and then suddenly, there was nothing. She lay limp in his arms. It only took him five seconds to gently but hastily place her on the hospital bed and dart out the door in search for help.


	3. before the flames begin

"Help! Someone please. Anyone! Damn it help!" Emmett roared through the hallway of Phoenix hospital. Recognizing his thunderous voice, Tristan, Jasper, Jen and recently arrived Alice, Emmett's twin and Jasper's fiancée, were rounding the corner rushing to him.

"Emmett? What's wrong hun? Are you hurt?!" Alice asked as she gripped onto him in a bone crushing hug.

"Yes! I mean no! It's Rosalie! Something's wrong with her, we need a doctor..now!" he said in one breath, peeling Alice off of him.

"Dude slow down! Take a deep breath, and tell us what happened?" Tristan demanded grabbing him by the shoulders. "But wait, whose Rosalie?"

Emmett took a deep shaky breath and declared, "Rosalie Hale is the girl Jasper, you and I saved from those men in the alley today. She finally began to speak up when she started screaming about someone killing her or something, but then she passed out on top of me and I placed her on the bed…I just need a damn doctor alright! We can all talk about her later."

As he said this, Dr. McKinley jogged out from a room nearby, obviously overhearing their conversation, he breathed "Is she alright, what happened?"

"She passed out screaming and freaking out about something! I don't know what to do. Go in there and help her, you're the damn doctor!"

At his words McKinley made his way into the room with everyone at his heel, but made a stop at the room door. .

"I'm very sorry, but we can't have everyone in here at once, only one of you can stay" McKinley firmly stated.

"I'll stay with her" Emmett sighed, "You guys can go home, I'll call you when I know something." As they all filed out of the hospital Emmett stood in the right far corner of the room with his arms crossed watching the doctors every move.

He checked her heart rate and paged in a few nurses to get her intubated. Emmett was about to rip all his hair out in frustration seeing Rosalie lying there with a needle in her arm, and a tube stuck up her nose. At the same time he wondered, _why do I care if she's alright? I don't even know this girl. This stunning angel. She looks so helpless lying here. Her beautiful long blonde hair enclosing in on her flawless pale face; But those eyes, those striking ocean blue eyes, hidden behind her eyelids are eyes that I have to see again....I sure do hope she's okay. I want to go and rip those disgusting men to shreds. Why were they even beating her to begin with? And who was she saying was going to kill her? Why would someone ever dare think of ending such a beautiful life....._

Emmett's thoughts were interrupted by a hand being placed on his shoulder.

"I'm going to need you to step out for a while" McKinley said to him. "I'm going to give her a quick check up to see if she has any signs of internal bleeding or severe bruising from the beating you wrote about on her chart".

"Can you just please tell me what happened to her?" Emmett said through clenched teeth. Dr. McKinley sighed, "No need to worry son, it was just a panic attack, now out. I'll let you back in when I finish."

As Emmett paced back and forth in the hallway it took almost all of his willpower to not break through that door to see his angel again. _Wait what? _He thought, _**his **__angel?_ He shrugged it off deciding that he'll worry about that later because for now his thoughts are on making sure Rosalie wasn't badly injured. After checking his watch for the umpteenth time Dr. McKinley finally opened the door to the hospital room.

"You can come back in now Mr. McCarthy", he said while swiftly removing his latex gloves.

"What's wrong with her? Tell me absolutely everything."

"Well since you aren't a family member the rest of the staff and I are not entitled to share this type of information wi-"

"What the hell a-", Emmett started, the disbelief clear in his voice.

"BUT, considering that you and your friends are the ones that found her and no relative seems to be recorded on her file I will tell you. This girl, Rosalie…Hale you said it was? She has bruises forming almost all over her body. Two broken ribs and the odd thing is that she has bruises that look like they could possibly be weeks old along her legs and mid section under the newly formed ones. And as for the two slashes on her face those will heal….. Emmett couldn't hear much of what McKinley said after the two words 'weeks old' because when this registered with him, all he could think of was getting to the bottom of Rosalie Lillian Hale and who in their damn right mind damaged her like this. He didn't even care if her boyfriend or whatever would try stopping him. _Ha! I'd like to see him try _he thought. But he instantly let that notion go because he doubts any partner of this angel would let harm come to her. That's beside the point though, _why would I be thinking about her boyfriend anyway?...Emmett, no! Stop it. Focus_ he contemplated.

Emmett wavered towards her bedside and leisurely sat in the small chair he was previously in as the doctor left the room. He gently grabbed the left hand that didn't have that awful needle inserted in her vein, and began rubbing soothing circles on the back of it, as if to pledge that he would protect her and not let harm come to her. But it was all mostly for him, to reassure him that she was there with him, safe, breathing and alive.

Finally, a long hour and a half later, Rosalie began to stir. Emmett felt this through her warm hand that was still under his. He quickly raised his head that was resting on the back of the chair, as her eyes fluttered open, finally revealing her gorgeous baby blue's to him once again. He was putty in his seat.

"Hey stranger, you okay?" he asked her warmly.

"I hope so" she murmured looking up at his emerald green eyes anxiously.

"There's nothing to be afraid of, you're safe now. I promised you that, remember? And I always stick to my promises. You can guarantee it." He affirmed.

"Y-You don't even know me, Why are you helping me?" she stuttered in a small voice.

He pondered her question and eventually leaned forward in his chair; inches away from her dazzling face, and replied "why not?"

**What will happen next? (;**

**Keep reading everyone, por favor. Lol, the chapters will keep getting longer.. I hope :D and by the way don't forget to REVIEW!!!**


	4. crying to the sky

"Rosalie", Emmett began, "Can you please tell me what happened?"

"I already told you. I-I can't"

"Why? Why can't you?" he demanded.

When he said this she willed herself to break away from his stare. With a sigh Emmett whispered, "Okay, you can tell me when you're ready. I'm not going to leave you. And I'm sure as hell not giving up either". With that he stood up from the chair and exited the room, closing the door on his way out.

Emmett walked back and forth the hospitals corridors in desperate need to talk to someone about what was going on. So he decided on calling his family to tell them what happened to Rosalie. The phone rang five times when a heartwarmingly sweet voice answered. _Esme _he thought with a smile.

"Hello? Emmett? Are you okay? Is that girl Alice told me about doing aright?"

"Yes mom, she's doing fine, just a little banged up is all. Can you put Edward on the phone please?"

"Sure honey" she said sweetly. "_Edward dear, your brother would like to speak with you, come down here" _Emmett heard from the other line.

"Hey Em, how're you doing? Tell me everything, Bella and I are dying to know what's going on over there. The other's said that it would be best if you told us?"

Emmett rubbed the back of his head anxiously "yeah okay I'll tell you guys. Get Bella on three way."

"Um I sort of can't. Alice thought it would be best to go get a makeover with my wife today. Though I don't know why because Bella's beautiful the way she is." He said with pride in his voice. _Ah Eddie, always the perfect gentleman. That's what being a high school sweetheart does to you _he thought.

"Oh, okay then you can tell Bell's about it later then. Well, Tristan, Jasper and I were walking around when we found these two assholes beating up an angel….uh I mean a girl. They were kicking and punching the life out of her, and of course we weren't going to just stand around and watch. So, we got the guys, beat them up, and took the girl, Rosalie Hale, to the hospital.

"Oh, damn that's harsh. Why were those men beating her? And why are you still even there?"

Emmett sighed, "I don't know man, but I really wish I did. That's why I'm still here. I'm trying to get it out of her; she won't tell me anything but her name. It's so frustrating!"

"Aw Emmett I think you've been bitten by the love bug" Edward joked.

"Shut up man. I really don't know what's happening to me, I don't even know this girl and all I want to do is grab her into my arms and tell her that she's safe with me, that I can protect her for as long as she needs me."

"Whoa dude. You got it bad. Ha-ha, well I hope this all works out for you bro, and that she turns out okay. Call us if you need something, any of us will be over there in a heartbeat for you"

"Damn Ed, you're so gay." Emmett laughed into the phone.

"Whatever man, bye", and the phone clicked.

After eating almost half of the hospital's cafeteria for lunch, Emmett made his way back to Rosalie's room. As he opened the door, and sat back down in the plastic brown chair, Rosalie's eyes never left him.

What felt like a million years later to Emmett, she finally spoke.

"My mother died two years ago, when I was sixteen years old by a hit and run. My father was utterly devastated, and turned to alcohol thinking it would help him cope with the pain. After weeks of his drinking, I came home late one night from my friend Vera's house and when I stepped into my house, a fist smashed against my head…...

_**Flashback**__ [Rosalie's POV]_

"_Where the fuck were you?!" he screamed into my face._

"_I was at Vera's, I-I told you I was going to be there watching movies with her all night", I said as I staggered to my feet. _

_He grabbed a fist full of my hair and dragged me, until my face was inches away from his, "Bitch why don't you understand that nobody wants you?!" he sneered into my face._

"_Dad, ow please! Stop you're hurting me!" I cried. _

"_I don't give a shit! You're worthless!" he growled as he hurled me to the ground and started kicking me over and over again. With every blow, I'd yelp which would just make him strike me harder._

_He eventually stopped, not wanting to kill me and spit at me "clean yourself up and make me dinner"._

_I did as I was told, and this would end up happening every week, sometimes more than once for no reason at all. I think he thought of this as a little game, he found joy in tormenting me. Eventually, I began losing my friends, even Vera; they thought I was "weird" because I was wearing big clothes to cover up my bruises. I obviously couldn't tell them why I would wear those clothes because my father would somehow find out, and end up killing me. He would call his two friends, Royce King and Billy Black, every Friday just so that they could have their turn in beating and molesting me._

_They would rip my clothes off of my body and touch me; thankfully they never got any further than that. The worst part was that all I could do was lay there, they were both stronger than me so I couldn't fight them off._

_I grew tired of this happening to me; I knew I never deserved any of this. Everything that escaped my father's vile mouth was a lie._

_So I decided to leave. And that is exactly what I did. I just left the house one day and never came back. While I was running away from my house, I heard two men yelling after me, "Hey baby, where you going?" I recognized this nasally voice as Royce King's._

_I couldn't hear what Billy Black said after him because all I did was push myself faster. But they gained on me and pulled me back by the hair. They both picked me up, and hauled me into the alley…..._

_**End Flashback**_

"And then that's when you and your friends found me", Rosalie ended with tears streaming down her face. The whole time Rosalie spoke of her past she stared up at the ceiling, never meeting Emmett's gaze.

But now, when she looked up at him, fear swept through her. Emmett's whole body was tense, his knuckles in a tight fist, his jaw tight, and his eyes, they flashed from rage to sympathy and back to rage. Afraid of alarming her, Emmett took a deep breath and managed to compose himself.

Without thinking, he immediately seized her in a stone hard grip. He didn't move an inch as she sobbed into his chest; all that crossed his mind was finding her father.

And killing him.

**Muhaha told you, it is longer, by a little :P review! **

**I hope ya'll enjoy (:**


	5. two of the three

After Emmett and Rosalie released their hold on each other, she sat on the edge of the bed and seized his face with both hands, almost roughly and begged, "Emmett, please don't tell anyone this. If anyone finds out about this...I don't know what I'd do..he'll find me, just how he had Billy and Royce follow me, he'll figure something out, he always does..." she trailed off looking at him, panic overtaking her face. But Emmett wasn't having any of that, he gently took her hands off of his face and held them in his.

"Rosalie Hale, why aren't my words getting through this thick scull of yours? I. Will. Not. Let. Anything. Happen. To. You." He said emphasizing every word, "I'm going to protect you, and I'm going to be here as long as you want me to be, do you understand me?"

She nodded, a magnificent smile cracking over her face. This made his breath catch in his throat.

"But wait, what am I going to do? I can't go back and live with my dad; h-he'll kill me. Please I can't!" she whimpered.

"Shh Rosie, of course you're not going back to that monster", Emmett seethed. "You're staying with my family and me."

"What?! Emmett, no. You've helped me enough already and I don't want to impose." She said through tight lips, "I'll stay at a shelter or something."

"No. I've made up my mind. You're staying with me until you've completely healed and until all of this is taken care of." he said with authority deep in his voice.

"Thank you so much", she cried.

He chuckled, "No problem".

They talked for hours about their childhood, school, everything from when Emmett broke his leg in three places falling out of a tree to Rosalie's first kiss. They would occasionally take a break to get food, or use the bathroom.

Eventually, seconds turned into minutes which turned into hours, and Emmett looked at his watch "holy crap! It's two in the morning!" he shrieked.

"Oh. I'm sorry that I've kept you away from your family, you should go home, and I'll stay for the night", Rosalie said with a sad smile.

"Naw it's more interesting here anyway." Emmett said. "I asked McKinley a couple hours ago, and he said you can be released tomorrow...which is actually today. So we can leave when the sun comes up!" he squealed jumping out of his seat from the excitement.

"Alright then", she laughed, it was like wind chimes.

"Let's get some sleep. I don't think we would want to look like zombies when we get home" he yawned.

At that, Emmett snuggled himself on the sofa recliner at the far end of the room while Rosalie slept on the hospital bed.

Unfortunately, Emmett only slept about half an hour, he was too keyed up to sleep any longer. Not wanting to wake Rosalie, he stepped out of the room silently and walked into the waiting room, stretching his legs.

Bored out of his mind, he decided to call Alice...

"Emmett McCarthy, its two forty-five AM! You better have a perfectly good reason to be calling me at this time!" she snapped.

"I do" he said calmly, "I'm bored.....and Rosalie's moving in with us".

"Oh my gosh! Really?! That's awesome. And if you like her, we'll like her", she said with a smile in her high soprano voice.

"That's great Alice, but I need a favor from you, and it requires you getting out of bed...can you wake up Edward and can the two of you bring my jeep over here, please? Because I need a car to take Rosalie home in and-"

She cut him off in a hurry "No problem, we'll be there in twenty".

"Thank you Alice" he sighed and closed his phone.

Emmett sat in the waiting room, deep in thought. _Rosalie's going to do great when we get home. They're all going to love her, she's sweet, she's caring...she's perfect. I really hope mom and dad like her because I know for a fact that they won't have a problem with her moving in with me. I just need to get Alice to calm down a bit, sometimes she's just too hyper and can possibly freak someone out......speak of the devil, _he mentally scoffed. Alice skipped into the hospital and ran directly over to him, tossing him his keys.

"Hey Emmy! I parked your jeep out front; Edward's waiting for me in his Volvo and he's kind of pist for waking him up, so yeah I'll see you and Rosalie later!" one second she was there, the next she was outside climbing into the Volvo.

Emmett chuckled to himself, knowing that this was going to be a hectic day. He closed his eyes momentarily thinking of Rosalie and ended up drifting to sleep in the chair.

"CODE BLUE! CODE BLUE!" a nurse yelled rushing towards the maternity ward, and waking up Emmett in the process, he groaned and slowly got up stretching his arms and legs. It took a while for his eyes to get accustomed to the light....

_Wait what am I doing here?...ahh, that's right I'm taking Rosalie home today, _he remembered with a grin_._

He checked his watch as he made his way back to her room and opened the door to an already awake Rosalie getting out of bed.

"Mornin' Sunshine! It's nine-thirty" Emmett boomed, walking inside.

"Good morning, Emmett", she replied sounding distant.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked her, titling her chin up to meet his eyes.

"Yeah I'm fine, just a little nervous about meeting your family today."

"Oh.. Pfft! You'll do fine, they're all going to love you, no doubt about it" he winked at her. "Hey I'll be back in a bit; I'm going to go sign your release papers".

In the mean time as Emmett was at the front desk, Rosalie stripped out of that 'too revealing' hospital robe and changed back into the filthy clothes she came in. Her jeans and red long sleeved shirt were fairly ripped in different places and covered in muck, but they'll just have to do.

"Hey Rose you ready?" Emmett asked as he opened the door.

"Yes I'm ready. Let's go", she replied.

They walked side by side through the hospital. Emmett walked extra slow for Rosalie because she would occasionally limp, or hold onto her sides in pain. The sight made his heart ache. He was debating on whether to just pick her up bridal style and carry her to the car or to just let her walk. He sighed, thinking that she most probably doesn't want to seem totally helpless, so he just walked by her side.

As they reached Emmett's jeep, Rosalie turned to him "um how did this jeep get here? I thought your friend drove us in the Camaro" she asked, bewildered.

He shrugged, "My brother and sister drove the jeep here for me this morning so we wouldn't have to catch a cab".

"Oh" she simply responded.

They drove in an awkward silence, until Emmett couldn't bear it any longer.

"Just a heads up, my family's a crazy bunch".

Rosalie gulped, "As if I wasn't already nervous."

"No need to be nervous they'll warm up to you soon enough," Emmett snickered, "Okay let me tell you a bit about them all so that you'll know who's who. I live with my sister Alice, she's really small and pixie-like, my older brother Edward who has bronze hair and green eyes like mines, and his wife Bella, really pale but pretty with long brown hair."

"Why don't Edward and Bella live in their own house?"

"Because they missed us too much" Emmett laughed. "Well anyway, Alice's fiancée is Jasper, the blonde guy that was yelling about his precious Camaro. And his sister, Jennifer is dating Tristan the one with straight brown hair."

"I see" Rosalie deliberated.

"And then my parents, Carlisle and Esme. They live in their own home but I don't know why since they spend every waking moment at our house. They're two of the three most important people in my world" he beamed.

Rosalie smiled at him warmly, "I bet they love you very much" she whispered patting his hand.

"I sure do hope so!" Emmett puffed out as he parked the car in front of a humongous three story house.

"You live here?!" Rosalie gasped.

"No I live next door." He replied sarcastically.

"Really...?" she looked bamboozled.

"No", he giggled at her shaking his head in incredulity. "Now come on, they've been dying to meet you."


	6. inviting the dawn to break

As Emmett made his way to the passenger side of the jeep, Rosalie was all but falling to pieces in her seat. She promptly fixed up her hair and even adjusted her shirt a few times, but it all just made her more anxious.

When Emmett opened her door, he slowly tipped his head to the side and asked her, "Hey, you okay? You're looking a little green there"

"Uh, y-yeah I'm fine," she stuttered. "I just have a bit of an upset stomach in the mornings. It should go away in a bit."

"Oh, okie dokes then. Let's get moving, we aren't getting any younger" he snickered while he coolly grabbed her hand in his and helped her out of the jeep.

As they walked over the pavement, he involuntarily intertwined his large fingers amid her slender elegant ones. Timidly, Rosalie peeked up at him through the curtain of golden hair she created between them, and saw a faint smirk playing across his lips. She flushed a deep scarlet at the idea of him possibly enjoying the feel of their warm hands pressed together as much as she did.

Once they set foot on the terrace,Emmett gave her hand a reassuring squeeze and reached for the doorknob with his unoccupied hand. But what happened next surprised them both. The door flew open at a blinding speed, revealing an excessively energized pixie bouncing on the balls of her feet. _Oh here we go,_ thought Emmett, mentally rolling his eyes.

Unable to stay put any longer, she grasped Rosalie around the waist in a vice grip, causing her to flinch away in pain from her bruises.

Instantaneously, Alice backed away with a look of terror potent in her light brown eyes.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you, damn I'm sorryyy" Alice wheezed.

"No, no it's okay, I'm fine, I promise" Rosalie smiled at her. "I'm Rosalie by the way. You must be Alice?"

"Yes, indeed," she beamed. "And this is my fiancée, Jasper Whitlock" Alice said skipping to the right side of the room and dragging the blonde man towards the door.

"It's very nice to meet you, Rosalie" Jasper stated in a slight southern drawl.

"Thank you, you too. I can't wait to meet the rest of your family. They sound great from what this big oaf's told me" she giggled, gesturing towards Emmett. "Whoa, your house is amazing!" she gawked, finally stepping over the threshold and into the front room.

"Ha-ha, it should be. Carlisle and Esme spent almost a year renovating this house. They saw it was on sale for a pretty reasonable price, so they decided to take a look. But what they found was chipped up wood, cracks in almost all walls and leaks, many, many leaks." Emmett said as he watched Rosalie admiring the hundred year old chandelier at the back of the room, near the dining table.

However, a velvety voice broke the silence. "Hey Alice, can you please inform your beloved, Jasper, to quit taking my plain V-necks when he sleeps over! Those are my favorites, and I only have like six!" a bronze haired, green eyed man whined as he descended the stairs in faded black jeans and a light blue V-neck, go figure.

"Uh, Edward? We have company!" Alice chirped.

He stopped short at the foot of the stairs, and glanced up. "Oh, hello, I'm Edward, you must be Rosalie?" he speculated, making his way towards her, and shaking her hand.

_Wow, is everyone in this house so perfectly good looking?! _She almost said aloud. "Um, yes I am," she replied, dropping his hand.

"By the way," she said, turning to face Emmett. "Where'd you get this chandelier from? It's beautiful.."

"It was a graduation present from my father to all of us," declared a sweet voice at the top of the staircase, now sliding down the banister. "It took me three months to finally be able to do that without falling on my face," she laughed, hopping off the end of the rail, and walking towards Rosalie.

"Hi, you must be Bella? Is that short for Isabella or something?"

"Yeah, but I prefer Bella," she said kissing her cheek, "and you're Rosalie Hale, correct?"

"Correct you are" they smiled at each other.

"Well now that you've all met Rosalie, let's go get something to eat!" exploded Emmett, who was still standing near the door.

"Wait, where are Jennifer and Tristan?!" asked Jasper, with a look of panic flashing over his features.

"Dunno, but they're most probably fine. We'll see them later, Jazzy, stop being so protective," Emmett frowned. "Guys, come on! Food. Now!"

They all laughed at him and headed out the door. Emmett waited, as Rosalie exited the house last and stopped her, "So, whatcha think?" he asked enthusiastically.

"They're great!" she beamed. Emmett stared at her and the biggest smile she'd ever seen broke over his face. Mesmerized at the joy she saw pooling in his eyes; Rosalie couldn't help herself when she cupped his face in her small palm, and looked up at his jade eyes, "Thank you, Emmett. For all of this," she sighed, closing her eyes.

"No problem, babe," he whispered, leaning in and pressing his lips softly to her forehead.

"Yo, Emmett, I thought you were hungry!" Edward shouted, holding back a laugh, from across the driveway, and receiving a smack on the head from Bella.

Emmett slowly backed away from a beet red Rosalie's and winked at her. In a flash, he had run over to Edward and were now both on the pavement wrestling like ten year olds.

"EMMETT! Ouch! I thought you were hungry!" Edward gasped from underneath him. Emmett was now situated on Edward's stomach laughing his ass off.

"Yeah, yeah, okay let's go," Emmett said helping Edward to his feet. "Hey guys, what cars are we taking?"

"Jasper and I are riding in the Camaro," Alice stated. "Who else wants to ride with us?"

"I do," Edward rasped, brushing off some filth on his jeans.

"Alright then, Bella you'll most probably want to be with Edward, right?" She asked turning to her.

"Of course," she said, skipping to the Camaro.

"I guess Rose and I will take the jeep then," Emmett said, running a hand through his curly locks. "You cool with that, Rosalie?"

"Sure," she smiled cheekily at him.

They all clambered into their cars hastily, mostly to please Emmett and get some food into his system.

Minutes later, Rosalie's fingernails were digging into either side of her seat in fear. She was positive she was going to die in Emmett's jeep. Why? Well, because he was driving like maniac at one hundred and fifty miles per freaking hour! He drove with his left hand on the middle of the steering wheel, and his right was carelessly leaning on the arm rest between the two front seats.

"Hey Rose?" Emmett started, with a thoughtful expression, but she didn't respond. "Rosalie?" he asked again, now turning his head towards her.

"Yes, Emmett?" she squeaked, piercingly.

"Whoa, what's wrong with you?"

"You're driving one hundred and fifty miles an hour, Emmett!" she half yelled.

"Oh, psh, yeah, and? We always drive like this," he shrugged.

"Well, do you guys have a death wish?" she asked, now calmer, but still clutching onto her seat for dear life.

Emmett reluctantly, slowed down, lowering the little needle to a hundred mph. "Better?" he asked.

"Not really, but whatever. Just don't crash," she said with no trace of humor in her voice.

A short silence filled the jeep, but was interrupted when Emmett's phone rang.

"Yo what up Bells?" he asked.

"_Where do you and Rosalie want to eat?"_

"Rosie, what do you want to eat?" he asked Rosalie as she blushed fiercely, at the way he called her Rosie.

"Anything is fine," she whispered, staring intently at her lap.

"Bells, we're up for anything. You guys can pick, I'll follow the Camaro," he said putting the phone back to his ear.

"_Kay, bye," _Emmett closed the phone shut.

Rosalie was still thinking of how much she enjoyed being called Rosie. No one has referred to her as that in more than seven years. Before her grandfather died, he would always call her Rosie, she couldn't remember a time when he had ever actually said her full name, Rosalie Lillian, just plain and simple, Rosie. She smiled at this thought. She had loved her grandfather so much; he was like a second dad to her.

"Hey, watchu all smiley about?" Emmett asked, flouting her train of thought.

She shook her head, "Oh, um, nothing."

"Come on, tell me? Please?" he pleaded. She felt his wondrous breath on her face, and forgot what she was going to say. "Uhh, what?" she asked hazily.

"Can you tell me what you were smiling about?" he asked looking back at the windshield.

"I was thinking of how much I like it when you call me, Rosie," she realized what she had said a moment too late. With her eyes wide, she slapped her hand over her mouth causing a popping sound. In embarrassment, she looked down at her lap again, and blinked back the tears of humiliation threatening to fall.

Emmett smiled warmly at her and asked softly, "You like it when I call you Rosie?"

She just nodded and flushed pink for about the millionth time that day.

"Well, then Rosie, we're here!" he boomed as the car came to a sudden halt.


	7. he be hungry

Emmett clambered out of his jeep in haste, and jogged over to Rosalie's door.

"My lady," he said as he opened her door and bowed down as if it were the arrival of the queen.

"Oh why thank you kind sir," Rosalie replied mimicking a British accent.

She hopped out of the jeep and Emmett's arm was already snaked around her waist, leading her towards the restaurant.

"The Bella Italia? Is this place any good?" Rosalie asked Emmett, tilting her head in his direction.

"Hell yeah, we come here all the time, it's great."

With that, they entered the front doors to an awaiting bunch.

"What took you guys so long?" Jasper asked, with irritation slightly noticeable in his voice.

"Rosie here was freaking out cause of the speed I was driving at," Emmett chuckled. "She was clutching the seat with her nails; I think it might have left marks." He was now struggling to stay upright as he laughed until he was red in the face, and had tears in his eyes.

They all just waited patiently until Emmett finished with his little moment, but Rosalie was livid. She stood with her arms crossed tightly to her chest, glaring down at Emmett who was _still _doubled over, snickering.

He finally stood up straight, wiping the tears from his eyes and turned to Rosalie, who hadn't moved an inch since his little act.

"Aw come on Rosie, I was just messing with you," Emmett said, stepping towards her.

Reflexively, she softened up a bit at the mention of _Rosie_, but still glowered.

"That was rude," she snapped, now averting his gaze.

"Psh, you know I was kidding," he smiled. "Now come here." Emmett wrapped his arms around her shoulders and gave her a gentle squeeze, most probably to avoid her more pain from her bruises.

Rosalie couldn't help but grin up at him as he dropped his arms and stuffed them in his pockets.

"GUYS! FOOD!" Emmett howled, as if they were the ones that were keeping him from eating.

Edward grumbled something incoherent, and led the way. They made it to a half circle booth, with Edward at the first corner, then Bella, then Jasper, then Alice, then Rosalie, and lastly Emmett at the second corner. They looked over their menus quickly, though Rosalie just picked the first thing on the list, not being very picky, since that was the first time she's gone out to eat in about four years.

Shortly, the waitress arrived with their drinks and food all balanced on both arms. _If that falls on me....she better start running now_, Emmett thought.

"Here's everything, enjoy your meal everyone," the waitress said sweetly, setting down the last plate in front of Edward and walking away.

"Are you sill mad at me?" Emmett asked, his lower lip jutting out like a little kid doing something mischievous.

Rosalie took one glimpse at his puppy dog eyes, and succumbed.

"No," she answered back, looking at her plate, not wanting to appear susceptible.

"Awesome," Emmett smiled, ".....FOOD! FINALLY!"

As they were finishing up, and Emmett practically licking his plate, Tristan and Jennifer popped up out of no where.

"Hey guys!" Jennifer greeted enthusiastically, standing at the front of the table holding Tristan's hand. "Hey, Rosalie Hale, right? We met before when I went to pick you and the boys up to take uhh...."

Jennifer immediately shut up, taking in Rosalie's horror struck eyes, and the way she cringed into Emmett's side from her awful memory.

"Jen!" Emmett snarled.

"I-I-I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to..." Jennifer stumbled.

But she didn't get the chance to finish when Rosalie interjected, "No no it's okay, I was just taken by surprise. I'm good," she fake smiled.

"It's sure as hell not okay," Emmett glared, his voice like ice.

Rosalie just sighed, and looked around the table with an apologetic expression, in desperate need for someone to say something and change the subject. As if reading her mind, Jasper spoke up.

"Jennifer Whitlock, where have you been?" Jasper questioned straight at Tristan, with a surprising calm in his voice, but a deathly glower in his eyes.

"Don't look at Tristan like that, you asked me. Not him...and we went out to a movie, so chill. You overreact for the stupidest things," Jennifer rolled her eyes.

Tristan just nodded, and looked over at Rosalie. "Hi Rosalie, we met before," Tristan smiled, holding his free hand out to her.

"Yes," she said softly, shaking his hand.

"How did you two know we were here?" Edward asked.

"I sent Jen a message, and told her to come here when she finishes what she was doing," Alice said, bouncing in her seat. "But we're sort of done, so let's just all go back to the house. We'll all get a chance tot talk there."

At that, they paid, and were out the door and headed to their cars. As Emmett opened Rosalie's door for her and got into the driver's side, his thoughts were racing.

_How the hell can Jennifer say that! To Rosalie! She is so getting bitched at later. How can she be so insensitive? Yeah, I understand that she can be an airhead sometimes, but my gosh, does she not care for anyone but herself? I'd rather have my heart torn a million times than to see so much fear and panic in Rosie's eyes again. Why do I have such feelings for her? Yeah, we kind of already know almost everything about each other, but we just met a couple of days ago, my feelings can't possibly be this strong already. This is getting ridiculous...but what if she feels the same about me?...no she can't, I'm so out of this angel's league. She's too perfect for me. But one thing I am sure of is, I really like her, a lot....uh oh, she's looking at me, I can feel her eyes on me, crap what should I say? Emmett, damn it, be a man, don't just sit there and let her stare at you...talk to her..._

"Yes?" Emmett asked, escaping his trance and glancing over at Rosalie in the passenger seat. _._

"Um nothing," she replied meekly.

"Then why were you looking at me?" Emmett inquired, wiggling his eyebrows.

Rosalie laughed, a shimmering bell laugh, "No reason."

And then there was silence. Both apparently deep in thought, didn't speak for the rest of the drive home.

When the Jeep was parked next to the Camaro, Emmett didn't even get the chance to open Rosalie's door for her because she was already closing hers at the same time that he was. This troubled him slightly; a modest part of him really liked opening and closing doors for Rosalie. _Shit, I'm turning into Eddie_, Emmett mentally snorted.

Rosalie shadowed Emmett's footsteps into the huge house and was alarmed at what came next.

**jaa this one is shorter than the last. i got stuck, and i be pist. the next will be longer though :D review?..and i hope you liked it (: **


	8. the rooms

A woman in her late thirties, yet still astonishingly beautiful with light brown billowy hair collided against Emmett and practically crushed all of his bones in just one hug. All Rosalie could do was stand there, in complete and utter shock.

"Emmett McCarthy! You have had me worried sick! Only one phone call?! Seriously?" she scolded, looking up fiercely at his face. "Your father and I have missed you so much!" She finished, now dry sobbing into his massive chest.

"Mom, chill. I've only been gone like two days! Hahaha...I love you, and I'm very sorry for not checking in with you every second," Emmett chuckled sarcastically, embracing his mother once more.

Moments later, Emmett pried his mother's arms from around him and turned her to face Rosalie.

"Mom _this_ is Rosalie Lillian Hale," he stated, with affection deep in his voice. "This is the ang-GIRL...you've been told about."

"Oh my! Where are my manners! Hello Rosalie, I'm Esme Cullen, I'm so happy you'll be staying here with the kids," Esme smiled hugely at her.

"And who do we have here?" a smooth, masculine voice asked, rounding the corner to the front living room. He had honey blonde hair, with sparkling cobalt eyes.

"Uh dad, this is Rosalie Hale, Rosalie this is my father, Dr. Carlisle Cullen," Emmett introduced.

"Cullen?" Rosalie questioned; arching her perfect eyebrows in speculation.

"Oh yeah, that's my full name, Emmett McCarthy Cullen, I just leave out the Cullen to make it shorter," Emmett mumbled.

"Oh."

"Well it's very nice to meet you Rosalie, we've heard so much," Carlisle smiled warmly at her, while shaking her hand.

Rosalie couldn't help but think, _what is this "so much" that he's heard? Did Emmett tell them...Stop Rosalie! They're nice people; they should know what happened to me if I am going to be living with their children! Stop trying to make everything worse!......_

Carlisle now stood in back of Esme with his arms wrapped around her waist, and his head resting on her small shoulder. He tenderly nuzzled her neck, causing her to giggle.

"Guys! Ew, get a room!" Emmett almost shrieked, in a disgusted tone.

"Oh, my apologies," Esme whispered, slipping off into the kitchen, with Carlisle close behind her.

Emmett shuddered slightly next to Rosalie, while she snickered.

"What's so funny?" he pouted.

"Your reaction," she said, now full out laughing. "So...now what?"

"You want a tour of the house?" Emmett asked, bouncing on his tones.

"Hahaha, sure."

He took her hand in his and led her to the staircase on the right side of the room. They began to ascend the stairs when suddenly, Rosalie let out a low hiss and clutched at her left side in agony.

"Rosie! What's wrong?!" Emmett's voice raised an octave with worry.

"Uhhh," was all she said, still helplessly clasping at her side, but now her eyes were closed tight.

"Rosalieee!" Emmett whined.

"M-my side hurts a lot," she rasped, now slowly sitting on the step.

"Oh shit! It was going up these steps! Oh crap....Carlisle!" Emmett yelled now, hovering over Rosalie.

"What? What's wrong?" Carlisle asked, coming into view. "What happened here?!" he breathed out quickly, taking in Rosalie and Emmett's positions. He jogged over to them as Emmett said, "Her ribs or side or somewhere in that area," he rambled, "hurts a lot. Can you check her out, please?"

"Yes yes, of course I will," Carlisle alleged.

"Uh that won't be necessary Dr. Cullen, I'm fine!" Rosalie shrugged as she rose to her feet. She winced, not covering up the charade very well.

"Rosalie, allow me to check you out. I am a certified physician, I will keep this completely confidential if you desire," Carlisle offered firmly.

"Well, okay," she replied softly, her voice cracking at the end.

Carlisle began to make his way upstairs, so Rosalie stepped after him; but gasped from the pain.

Before she could even think, Emmett scooped her up in his arms and carried her up, all the time ignoring her feeble struggles to get free.

As they reached the last step, Emmett set her carefully on her feet and followed Carlisle into his study. His office had shelves of medical books covering almost every inch of the walls. It looked like he had a whole doctor's office in there. He left all of his medical equipment in this house, since he's always there.

"Emmett, son do you mind waiting outside?" Carlisle asked him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Um..." Emmett stalled, glancing at Rosalie, concern evident on his face.

Rosalie gazed back, pleading him with her eyes. As if understanding her wishes, Emmett nodded, and slowly made his way out into the hallway.

"Rosalie, if you don't mind I am going to need you to remove your shirt," Carlisle declared, staring at her straight in the eyes.

"U-um, okay," she choked.

"Just lift it up to where it hurts though," Carlisle added, not wanting to make her feel more uncomfortable than she already was.

Rosalie raised her shirt until it reached the bottom of her bust, and waited patiently as Carlisle kneeled down in front of her to observe her abdomen area.

On the other side of the door was a fretful Emmett. He was sitting on the floor, leaning up against the wall alongside his father's study. He kept subconsciously running his hands through his curly locks in angst. _What the hell is going on in there?! I can't believe this is happening. I thought she was healing perfectly well, Dr. McKinley said that her bruises and cuts would heal....then why would she be in pain from walking up four small steps?....could she have injured herself more? What if McKinley missed something!.....damn! What is taking them so long! I can't take this anymore! _Emmett mentally roared, bounding up to his feet. But right as he twisted towards the door, it flew open. Carlisle walked out with Rosalie trailing behind him. She wore a reserved expression which was slightly teary.

"Carlisle, what is it? W-what happened to her?!" Emmett stumbled, leaning in closer to his father.

Carlisle stole a quick reassuring glance at Rosalie, and she nodded for him to continue.

"Well, apparently she had two broken ribs; you most probably already knew that from the hospital though. But one of the ribs weren't taped up quite well. So I fixed it," he finished off abruptly.

"That's it? Nothing else is wrong?" Emmett implored.

"No son, she's fine. Both of her ribs will be completely healed in a few weeks, her gashes will need about one week so, so that I can remove the stitches, and as for the bruises....those might take a while longer."

Rosalie's forearms were now fading to a very light yellowish color, but on her upper arms, chest, and practically her whole body were blue and purple. She's thankful for having worn a long sleeve shirt and jeans the day she decided to run away because Emmett was watching her intensely, as if trying to see the bruises through her clothes. Consequently, she felt insecure, and shrunk behind Carlisle.

"Rosalie, are you alright?" Emmett asked softly, stretching his arm out to her.

"Um yes," she replied stiffly, stepping out from behind Carlisle, and taking hold of Emmett's hand. "Thank you so much, Dr. Cullen. I appreciate this, how can I ever repay you?"

"For starters, you can call me Carlisle. And you don't have to repay me, Rosalie.....well then, if we're done here, I need to be getting to the hospital soon, my shifts about to start." At that, he jogged down the stairs and headed back to Esme in the kitchen.

They watched after him, and stayed standing there, unmoving, in sheer silence.

"So, if you're still up for it, how about that tour?" Emmett asked Rosalie, giving her hand a squeeze.

"That'd be nice," she replied, looking up at his emerald eyes, thawing out immediately.

He walked her through the second floor hallway, explaining to her whose rooms where who's. Edward and Bella got the second floor master room at the end, since they were married. And Alice got her own room, a bathroom away from the married couple. When Jasper slept over, which was nearly every night, he would sleep in the guest room next to Alice's or in the room with her.

"Then where's your room?" Rosalie asked, stopping to look at Emmett.

Emmett pointed his index finger towards the ceiling, "upstairs," he replied naughtily, with a playful glint in his eyes.

"Ha-ha, let's go see it then," she giggled, as they reached the foot of the stairs that led to the top floor. "Um Emmett...I don't know if I should-"

"I got it covered babe," once again, he lifted her gently into his arms, and cradled her like a child up the stairs.

By the time they reached the top, Rosalie was bright red.

"You're blushing," Emmett whispered, caressing her cheeks with the tips of his fingers, being extra cautious to not touch or mess up her stitches.

She just looked down, embarrassed, and asked, "So, your room?"

"Trying to change the subject I see?"

"Uh no, pfft, I just really want to see your room," Rosalie lied horribly, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, okay," Emmett chuckled.

He led her to a room on the left and opened the door slowly. "So, isn't my sanctuary awesome?"

"Oh yes, amazing," she snorted, letting sarcasm take over her voice.

Emmett's room had a bathroom and a walk in closet. He had a king size bed pressed up against the back wall, with video games piling up along the floor in rows.

He also had a vast plasma TV on the wall in front of the bed.

"Whoa," was all Rosalie could say.

"Tell me about it," Emmett grinned. "Oh yeah, do you want to see where you will be staying? It's the guest room on this floor," Emmett smiled, revealing his charming dimples to her. She just stared back at him, dazed.

"Hellooo...earth to Rosie?" Emmett said in a sing-song voice, waving a hand in front of her face.

"Oh um, yeah sure, let's go." She replied, letting out a gust of air.

She followed him out of his room, and walked a few steps into the hallway and came across a closed door.

"Here we are," Emmett said.

Rosalie twisted the handle and walked in. It had a king size bed as well, on the far right corner of the room next to a large window. There was a walk in closet on the left of the room, and a dresser next to the door.

"It's not much, but you can _Rosafy_ it however you like." Emmett murmured, inclining against the doorway. "Also, Alice and Bella will both be more than happy to take you to the mall to buy you new clothes; I'll give them my credit card."

"Emmett....no, this is too much. I can't accept all of this from you. You have all done so much for me already; I don't want you to waste your money on me."

"Rosie, how can you say that?" Emmett asked her sympathetically, walking to her. "We would love to get you clothes, and buy you expensive useless things. You deserve way more than this, let us spoil you at least a bit," he cupped her face in both hands and gazed at her deep sapphire eyes, getting lost in their depth.

"If you wish," she whispered, her voice timid to her ears.

Emmett lowered his head and pressed his lips tenderly to her forehead for the second time. He lingered there for few seconds, and then unhurriedly removed them. But kind of disappointed by the no contact, Rosalie casually leaned into his chest as he enclosed her in his arms.

As if on cue, the door banged open to an awfully overexcited Alice.

**I don't like this chapter, it came out horrible. What do you think? Horrible, ja? Lol (:**

**Well review, if you liked it 3 **


	9. under these scars

Emmett dropped his arms at once, and settled on holding her hand in his.

"Rosalie, here you are! Make over time!" the little pixie squealed in her twinkling voice.

"Alice, I don't think that's such a great idea right now," Emmett frowned.

"No Emmett, It's alright. I should get to know and spend time with the rest of your family, if I'm going to be living here for a while and all," Rosalie replied kindly.

"You sure about this? This little thing is psycho," Emmett warned, pointing at Alice.

"Oh shut up, Emmy, you know you love me," Alice grinned. "Now Rosalie, come on, we need to get started!" At that, Alice seized Rosalie's hand and dragged her away from Emmett. They went down to the second floor, slowly for Rosalie, and entered the master bedroom. There seated Indian style, in the center of the bed was Bella reading her favorite book, Wuthering Heights.

Glancing over her book, she giggled, "So, Alice got to you too?"

"What do you mean?" Rosalie asked in a confused tone.

"Well when I first met her the first thing she did to me was turn me into Barbie Bella. Ha-ha, good luck trying to voice your opinions on what you would want to wear because it's not going to happen. She rules in this department." Bella said, grazing her eyes over her preferred parts of the book.

"Yes, yes I do," Alice smirked from ear to ear.

Alice walked over to one of Bella's drawers, and pulled out a green towel.

"Here," she said handing the towel over to Rosalie, "take a shower in this bathroom, and then tell me when you're done. I'll be waiting here with Bella." She escorted Rosalie to the bathroom door, "All the things you'll need are in there, next to the tub."

Rosalie entered the bathroom and closed the door behind her. The bathroom was exaggeratedly massive. The tub was made out of smooth marble, as well as the counter and toilet. The counter was as big as Edward and Bella's bedroom dresser, it had make up and hair products galore with a huge sink smack in the middle. There was a mirror with curvy designs around its edges situated on top of the dresser; it took up almost half of the wall. Rosalie just gaped at it all, almost forgetting what she was in there for. _Oh that's right, a shower _she remembered. She stripped out of her filthy clothes and caught sight of herself in the huge mirror. She turned her body completely, so that she could see it fully, her eyes instantly began to water at what she witnessed. Her entire torso was covered in bruises and cuts; it was a painful thing to see. Standing there, gazing back at herself all broken and bruised made her crumple to the floor. She lay on the floor in a fetal position, hugging her knees to her chest, with silent tears pouring down her faultless face. _Why did this have to happen to me? I know I didn't deserve any of this. It wasn't my fault that my mother was shot and killed; he didn't have to blame me for something I didn't cause.....Rosalie no, stop this. Get the hell up, you're stronger than this, don't let them see you so weak...._she slowly rose to her feet at that last thought, and got into the shower.

Rosalie let the burning hot water cascade down her body and sooth her tense muscles. Though the water made her body and injuries scream, she couldn't feel it after a while, it felt pleasant to her.

She finished up and walked out of the bathroom wrapped in the squat green towel. She didn't feel comfortable exposing so much skin, especially now, all banged up the way she was. But she had to if she didn't want an angry Alice on her back.

Two sudden gasps filled the room, Bella and Alice's faces were masks of pure horror and sympathy. Rosalie's heart sunk, tears stung her eyes once more, but she forcefully held them back

They quickly recovered their expressions back to normal. Alice back to her excited and bubbly self, and Bella to her kind and shy self.

"Make over time!" screeched the insane pixie. "Bella, come on!" She snatched the book out of Bella's hands and tossed it across the room.

"Hey! What the hell! Are you seriously dragging me into this too?" She stopped in front of Alice.

"Of course. You're going to help," Alice demanded.

"I'm so sorry Rosalie."

"Its okay, Bella," she mumbled, still defeated by the way they gawked at her before.

Alice ushered them both back into the bathroom lugging a plastic chair with her. She placed the chair directly in front of the mirror and motioned for Rosalie to sit. It took all of Rosalie's willpower to avoid placing her eyes upon her reflection again because she knew that with just one glance, she'd break down. In the mean time, as Rosalie sat in the chair still uncomfortably enfolded in the towel, Alice and Bella took out excessive amounts of make up kits, and connected what seemed like a million different plugs into two different electrical sockets.

They first began on her face.

"Hmmm....what shall we do...There's not much _to_ do, since she's already impeccably beautiful," Alice stated, "Let's see what we can do here."

As Alice painted Rosalie's face, Bella worked with her hair, she blow dried and then straight ironed it. When that was done, she began curling every lock. After an hour of torture, Alice scampered out of the bathroom and came back with a new pair of dark wash skinny jeans, a skin tight purple long sleeved shirt, and a black vest.

"Now put this on, and come out side, NO peeking at the mirror!"

_Oh, no problem, _Rosalie thought.

After she changed into the clothes, she walked out of the bathroom and into the room.

"Whoa! Rosalie, you look amazing! Oh my gosh, okay you can go see yourself now!" Alice pulled her back into the bathroom, and turned her towards the mirror.

Rosalie stared at the girl in the mirror. It seemed to be her, but she wasn't quite sure. It looked very much like the Rosalie _before _her father began making her life a living hell. A heart stopping beautiful smile stretched over her face. "Thank you," was all she could say.

"Hell yeah, you look hot, dude I have to be there when Emmett sees you" Alice snickered.

Rosalie blushed feverishly, while Bella laughed, "Rosalie, It's true, you look great."

Besides the stitches on the side of her cheek, she could pass as a super model.

"Bro, you fucking cheater! I totally beat you!" Edward howled at Emmett in the living room.

"You did not, I totally had you! Rematch!" Emmett fumed.

"Damn wuss, you just want to see if you could actually beat me this time!"

"Oh, please, I know I can! I beat you before didn't......" Emmett trailed off, now staring open mouthed, and wide-eyed at the top of the staircase. "Holy...."

Rosalie now descended the stairs, with more grace Emmett's ever seen in a woman. As she reached the bottom step, Emmett stood up from the couch.

"Rosie, you look.....thank you Alice, Bella," he acknowledged, glancing at them both, "......beautiful," he finished, gazing deeply into Rosalie's oceanic blue orbs. The moment seemed so intimate, that Alice and Bella joined Edward on the couch, and had to look away from Emmett and Rosalie.

"Thank you," she felt the heat rising up to her face, forming into a brutal blush.

"You seem to do that around me a lot," Emmett told her, stroking her right cheek. "Do I get the pleasure of being its cause?"

"Possibly".

Emmett instantaneously, grabbed Rosalie's hand and led her to the back wall of the house, then out to the backyard.

**Hmm....i still don't know if i'm liking this xD..but oh well! (: ima update as soon as possible.**

**If you liked it, REVIEW! :]**


	10. suspended in a compromise

Emmett and Rosalie sat on the metallic black bench of their backyard. They had both positioned themselves cross legged and faced each other, so that their knees caps were pressed together. They sat there for what seemed like hours but were really just thirty dawdling minutes. As Emmett prattled on about unimportant topics and tales from his younger years, Rosalie observed him. She observed the way he displayed everything with his hands when he was struggling to elucidate something from his past that had to be well pictured. She watched the manner in which his lips moved when he would frown; or the way they looked when he smiled, flashing a row of perfect white teeth, and revealing those adorable dimples that made her heart flutter. But what really captured her heart was the way he would gaze back at her as he spoke, with such admiration; his emerald orbs would glisten.

Rosalie ogled at him, utterly and totally dazzled.

"So, now you see why I had to portray the character of Mufasa in our _Lion King_ school play." Emmett finished off. "And this was in my sophomore year mind you....Ed's such an ass."

"Ha-ha, your brother's hilarious."

"Well I'm glad you like him, and everyone else for that matter." He said, gently taking her hands in his.

She looked down at their hands and sighed. "Emmett, thank you again. For all of this. I know I've been like a broken record, repeating the same thing over and over again, but I'm serious. I don't know where I would be now if I was still living with my father." She shuddered lightly just at the thought of returning to him. "You don't know how much this means to me, thank you. Thank you..so much."

"Rosalie look at me," Emmett said, as he raised one of his hands to tenderly cup her cheek. "There's no need to thank me, I know when someone deserves something, and you deserve the world, babe."

She intuitively leaned her face into his hand and placed a feather light kiss on his palm.

Emmett watched her with warm and understanding as he placed his hands back in his lap, then unthinkingly blurted out, "Would you like to go out to dinner with me?"

Rosalie went from translucent to scarlet in less than two seconds, "Like a d-date?"

"Yes?" Emmett replied, doubt and rejection taking over his voice. _What the hell was I thinking! Why would I ask her out! She's not going to say yes...this isn't the right time to ask her...I should have given her more time before bombarding her with that damn question! I can't blame her if she says no....she deserves more than what I can ever offer her..._Emmett mentally kicked himself.

But then, while he slowly rose to his feet to go and resume playing his game of Call of Duty with Edward, she gave him an answer, "Yes," suddenly, his movements were cut short.

"What?" he inquired in disbelief.

"I said yes. I'd love to go out with you, Emmett," Rosalie whispered, glancing up at him under her lashes.

As he gazed down at her, an incredibly slow but spectacular grin broke over his face. He grabbed Rosalie by the hand and lifted her to her feet in a swift and smooth movement, catching her by surprise.

"Let's go tell everyone that we're going out tonight," Emmett declared proudly, as he held the sliding glass door open for her.

They walked in a comfortable silence until they reached the living room once more. There was Bella sitting next to a concentrated Edward, with a jaded expression as she watched him play his monotonous video game against a computer character. On the other side of the room sat a snuggled up Jasper and Alice on the loveseat. They would occasionally place small kisses on each others lips, or murmur sweet words to one another; it was an endearing sight.

"Uh guys, Rosie and I are going to go out to dinner tonight," Emmett said, running his free hand through his dark curls.

As if been previously rehearsed, Edward, Bella, Jasper, and Alice's heads turned towards them at the exact same moment, each raising their eyebrows in speculation.

"Since it's already around six, we're going to head out," Emmett said, stepping in the direction of the door with Rosalie following right behind him.

"Oh no you are most definitely not!" squealed out the little pixie, leaping out of her fiancée's lap and zooming over to Rosalie.

Emmett stepped between them before Alice could attain her, "Alice, don't start. You can play with her when we get back."

"But-"

"No. After...please," Emmett practically begged.

With a pout on her small lips, Alice headed back over to Jasper, "Fine," she grumbled and plopped herself back onto his lap.

***

Now recently uncovering the fact that Rosalie is terrified of speeding vehicles, to much of his distaste Emmett drove at seventy miles an hour. He ran over the details of what had occurred that afternoon. _Rosalie said yes....my angel..._he kept repeating this over and over in his head, as if it had never happened....to make it come true; or as if to keep relishing the moment _"I said yes. I'd love to go out with you, Emmett," she whispered, glancing up at me from under those beautiful lashes....ahh she's amazing._ Emmett's thoughts were running in a wild frenzy, not even forming coherent sentences.

But luckily, before he caused himself any permanent damage, or just a bad migraine, Rosalie broke the silence, "Where are we going to go eat?" she asked, twisting her head to face him.

"Um, La Fontanella," he replied, drumming his fingers against the steering wheel.

"La what?"

"It's an Italian restaurant, the food's great. Kind of like The Bella Italia, but better."

"Oh," was all she responded, before falling back into the relaxed silence they were previously in.

Rosalie was twiddling and discreetly massaging her side, but not discreet enough for Emmett to not notice, "What's wrong?" he demanded, his brow furrowing in concern.

Rosalie immediately dropped her hands to her lap, "nothing."

"You're a rotten liar, Rosie. Tell me."

"My side is bothering me, but don't worry Em, your father said it was going to be a nuisance for a couple of days, it'll get better, I promise," she said with a sigh.

"Hmm, well if it keeps on bothering you tonight, tell me, so I can get you some Advil or something before you go to bed. A capiche?"

"Mhmm."

"Good," Emmett smiled, as he parked the car in front of a beautiful dim lit restaurant.

"Isn't all of this a bit too, um extravagant?"

"Of course not, Rosie," Emmett chuckled, opening Rosalie's passenger door for her. "This is how us Cullen kids roll."

"Ha-ha, I see."

They walked into La Fontanella and were greeted by a young waiter who quickly led them to a booth around the back of the restaurant. He placed their menus on the table, and scurried off into the kitchen. The whole time, Emmett never took his eyes off of Rosalie. He still couldn't comprehend how someone could be so ineffably beautiful in every way possible. He watched her as she gave the waiter a kind smile when he set the menus down onto the table, to him that smile would have been appealing, but to Emmett it was simply breathtaking. He observed her as she glanced over her menu, a look of slight frustration had creeped over her face because she couldn't decide on what to order.

But her eyes, those dazzling sapphire eyes, are what truly kept Emmett's heart. He could give her the world with just glance from her part.

**Okay done with this one. I really didn't feel like writing a conversation between them at the restaurant, so I decided to end it here. ;)**

**I really hope you liked it, REVIEW PLEASE IF YA'LL DID!! 33**

**Btw, I'd like to give credit to my bffle **_**Linda **_**who thought up them going to dinner! xD THANK YOU LINDA!....also check out her story called Angelo Custode, her penname is werewolflvr, and it's awesome! **

**Kay bye everyone, I'll continue soon if you'd like. **


	11. before the storm

A month in a half passed, and Emmett and Rosalie were inseparable. Rosalie had become tremendously close with the entire family, even Tristan and Jennifer who were hardly ever there anymore. But the times they were there, they treated her like she was part of the gang. Esme and Carlisle cared for her as if she were another one of their children. Every night after work, Carlisle would pass by the mansion before heading to his apartment just to check up on Rosalie, to see how she was feeling and progressing. Rosalie was eternally grateful for their kindness; she never would have thought she was going to have a family again, a loving and whole family, not one that was wounded and broken as she previously had with her father.

Alice and Bella had become the best friends she never had. They were more friends than she ever was with Vera. Alice, that energized pixie would pick out her wardrobe every morning, not that she was complaining; Rosalie absolutely loved Alice's fashion sense. She would do her hair and make up every time Emmett wanted to go out to eat, and each time Emmett would all but drool. She treasured the attention he would give her just because she never had it in her previous life.

Bella was like the older sister she always wanted. Whenever she needed to talk she would either go to Emmett, Jasper or Bella. Usually whenever the conversation was about Emmett, she'd go to Bella. Rosalie told Bella her deepest feelings and Bella would sit and listen, she would never dare judge her. Bella already knew almost everything about her.

Jasper and Edward were like the absurdly over protective brothers she wished she had when she was growing up. She would have given her life to have them there when her father would beat and torture her. Jasper had some sort of calm aura about him. She always felt at ease when he was around. Rosalie had no idea how he did this, but she's glad that he did, he makes her feel warm and welcome.

Edward would just give Emmett warning looks when he would hold her close to him or plant a sheer kiss on her head. He would openly glare at Emmett, warning him to not try anything funny without her consent. It slightly irritated Rosalie that he was meddling into Emmett and her lives, but she also saw it as a sweet and thoughtful notion; because he was being protective over her, and no one has ever treated her that way, except for Emmett obviously and her grandfather before he passed away.

And then there was Emmett. He was her knight in shining armor; her safe harbor; her adoration. Rosalie was certain that although she has only known Emmett for a few weeks that she loved him unconditionally and with all of her heart. She's never felt the way she feels for Emmett before, so she doesn't truly know what she's going through; she's not sure what love is yet. But what she does know is that whatever that feeling is, it's definitely amazing and it's mounting with every second that ticks by as they're together. The way Rosalie feels for Emmett is indescribable. But what she doesn't know is that he feels the exact same way in return.

The whole family can tell that there's something there between the two, however their just waiting until Emmett and Rosalie figure it out for themselves. They all know something is bound to happen; Emmett won't be able to resist her much longer, not with the way he loves her. And neither will Rosalie.

***

It was now Thursday night around twelve thirty, and most of the house was asleep or downstairs watching TV in the living room. Emmett was in a sort of trance, half asleep and half watching movements on the TV screen, he had no idea what was going on so he decided to go on up to bed. He reached the third floor and took notice of Rosalie's room door, it was open. _What is she still doing up?_ He questioned himself. Curiously, Emmett walked to her room next to his and stopped in his tracks. She seemed to have not noticed him because she was seated on her bed with her feet planted on the mattress and her knees up in the air, her beautiful azure eyes glued to the book she was reading that was laying on her thighs; she wore a dark red tank top and a pair of Emmett's basketball shorts. Her hair was flowing over her shoulders up to the middle of her back; it was still damp from the shower she must have previously taken. Emmett leaned on the doorframe with his arms crossed and one leg positioned in front of the other. He just stood there and watched her with probing eyes. _Rose looks so beautiful, so peaceful and into her book. She looks amazing twirling a strand of hair around her index finger....aw she's wearing my pants. That's so cute. Emmett what the fuck is wrong with you! Cute? Really?...damn she looks so tempting in that red tank top..No Emmett stop _He broke his thoughts off mid sentence, not allowing them drift off too far.

Rosalie shifted slightly on the bed, causing her right pant leg to fall back slightly, revealing her ivory yet extraordinarily toned leg to Emmett. His thoughts immediately took a different course, one not exactly pg-13 material. He shuffled his feet uncomfortably, not really enjoying having such thoughts of his angel; she's too good for that.

Rosalie must have heard him move because she tore her eyes away from her book and glanced at Emmett without moving.

"Oh hey Em, how long have you been standing there?"

"Uh just a little while," he said, scratching the back of his head, "I was kind of watching you read."

"You were watching me read? Why?" she chuckled.

"I don't know you just looked so peaceful and beautiful, that I couldn't look away," he mumbled, blushing.

"Ah look who's turning red now," she snickered, turning crimson herself.

"So um," Emmett sought out to change the subject, "what're you still doing up?" He asked, walking across the room and sitting on the edge of her bed.

"Well I was reading this book that Bella lent me, and I just can't seem to put it down. It's called Message in a Bottle by Nicholas Sparks, have you heard of it?" she questioned Emmett, moving to sit next to him on the border of the bed.

"Oh yeah, I think I have, I vaguely remember Eddie rambling on about a book Bella made him read, he obsessed over it for more than a week," Emmett laughed. "Is it the one with a man named Garrett in it?"

"Yes sir, that's one. It's extremely good. Nicholas Sparks is an amazing author," Rosalie trailed off, getting lost in her thoughts.

Emmett couldn't help himself when he raised his hand and placed it on the side of her face, where her scars were. Carlisle had removed her stitches a couple of days ago, but those two healed wounds were going to eternally remain. Emmett traced the light pink ridges with his fingertips and then all of a sudden, he had a burst of intuition. He cupped her face in both hands and placed a kiss lighter than air onto her partially separated lips. He backed away faltering, a muffled "I'm sorry," but didn't get a chance to say or do much more since Rosalie pulled him back to her by the front of his t-shirt and smashed her lips against his.

Rosalie was now lying with her back pressed against the mattress and Emmett's body pressed down over hers. She could feel every line of his body against each line of hers, but no weight because he held himself up with his arms. Their lips moved hungrily in synchronization together, with more passion either of them could have ever known to muster. They eventually broke apart, both in need of air.

"Sorry for bombarding you like that," Emmett breathed, inches away from Rosalie's face.

"Trust me, its okay," she giggled, and turned her head to the side, her right cheek against the soft blankets.

Her other cheek was left exposed and Emmett without delay leaned down and placed feather light kisses along the lines of her scars tenderly. He poured his heart out into these little actions, expressing how much she means to him, how much he can't live without her.

She moved her head back to look at him, and slowly lifted her arm to run a hand through his chocolate curls. He closed his eyes, relishing at her gentle touch, and reopened them to find her baby blue's pooling with adulation and tears.

Emmett gradually leaned his head down and placed his lips next to her ear, "Rosalie," he whispered confidently, his sweet breath tickling her ear, "I love you."

**Soooo, what do you think?**

**I just had to get them to kiss in this chapter already. Lol I really wanted them to show how they felt for one another :D**

**I'll try to continue as soon as possible, I really hope you liked it! REVIEW PLEASE! **

**:D thank you. **

**Btw, ya'll should read the book, Message in a Bottle, by Nicholas Sparks, it's truly amazing 3**


	12. may passion burn within

Rosalie's heart soared, "you love me?"

"Yes, I love you, Rosie," Emmett vowed, nuzzling her neck. "I don't expect for you to feel the same way as I do because I know it's all going a bit fast. But I just needed, for you to know how I felt, and if you don-"

Rosalie lightly pushed on his shoulders to get a view of his face, "Emmett," she cut him off abruptly, "shut up." Rosalie grabbed him by the neck and pulled him to her. Their lips molded together flawlessly, it was pure bliss. Reluctantly, Emmett released his hold on her to catch his breath and gazed down at her expectantly, "what does shut up mean exactly?" he asked uneasily.

"It means, I love you too, Emmett," Rosalie pledged. Emmett's jade eyes danced with unadulterated joy and euphoria. They just lay there, grinning and unmoving until a round of applause exploded through the silence. "That was adorable guys, no lie."

Emmett flew off of Rosalie and landed with a loud thump on the ground. He shot up off the floor and swiveled in the direction of the door. Edward stood there with a cheesy smirk on his face, "Oh and um sorry about interrupting whatever you two were doing up here," he snickered, "but Em, I'm bored to death."

"You lit-"

"Edward Anthony! What are you doing up here? I told you to leave them alone!" Bella popped in out of nowhere and smacked Edward on the back of his head.

"But babe, it's not like you would play Call of Duty with me!"

"No, I wouldn't play Call of whatever with you! But we _could_ have been doing something else.....well I guess not anymore, since you want Emmett instead of your wife," Bella chided, stalking off towards the stairs.

He stood there momentarily with a dense expression on his face. And then finally caught on to her words, "Bella, love, wait!" Edward said, as he ran after her like a helpless puppy down the stairs. "By the way, Emmett, be careful with her! You hurt her, I kill you!" he yelled from the second floor.

Emmett was still positioned where he was, fuming and quite annoyed. But the same can't be said about Rosalie, her head was now being suffocated by the pillow she was laughing in. She lifted her head to look at Emmett and began another round of chuckling, with fresh tears sliding down her cheeks. Emmett turned to her and stared at her as if she had gone outright mad. "Rose, you okay?"

She finished her unexpected laugh attack and chuckled out a, "Yeah, yeah. That was just too funny."

"Hmm, sure it was." Emmett replied sardonically, as he walked over to Rosalie, "It's late; I think ima call it a night."

"Oh um, alright then," Rosalie mumbled, flipping herself under the covers, "night Em."

Emmett leaned in to her, whilst taking her chin between his thumb and forefinger and pressed his lips softly to hers, he smiled against her lips, "Goodnight Rosalie, sweet dreams."

"I love you Emmett," Rosalie breathed, closing her eyes.

"I love you too."

***

That night Emmett was restless. He lay wide awake in his bed, thinking none other then the angel sleeping in the room next to his. He twisted and turned until he settled on his back with his arms on his pillow, cradling his head. Emmett fixed his eyes straight ahead onto the roof; he could almost hear the wheels turning in his head as he thought. _Rosalie. My Rosie, she loves me. My god I can't believe this. When I told her how I felt, I expected for her to turn away from me, to tell me that she couldn't return those feelings. But that love of mine never fails to disappoint...ahh Rosie. She's so sweet and carefree. I remember before when she wasn't like this, when she would be shy and frightened of the littlest things, all because of her father. That degraded motherfucker. I would enjoy killing and torturing the life out of that so called man, but unfortunately Rosalie won't speak anything of her past, including those disgusting men that damaged her... and of course, her father...._

Emmett's rage was getting the better of him, yet again. He took many deep breaths to calm himself, which fortunately worked. Rather pissed, he flopped onto his stomach and shut his eyes tight, slowly drifting off into darkness.

"BREAKFAST'S READY!" bellowed a tinkling voice from downstairs.

Everyone besides Emmett was down stairs within fifteen minutes. Jasper and Edward were standing and horsing around as Alice, Bella, and Rosalie sat on the stools surrounding the counters with bored expressions as they ate their food.

"Where's Emmett?" Alice asked, "His food's going to get cold. And he's not a happy camper when his food gets cold."

Right then walked in a sleepy faced Emmett wearing only his long black and red plaid pajama pants, and a bare chest. "Morning sleepy head," Rosalie giggled, trying to avoid looking at his body, which would have made her ogle embarrassingly. He ambled towards her and placed a small peck on her lips followed by a yawn.

All movement immediately froze in the kitchen.

"Dude, I thought that was all a dream last night….." Edward trailed off.

"Edward, what happened to you after high school? You were so smart and wise, now you're like almost plain stupid," Bella laughed, rising from her chair and embracing her husband around the waist. "I blame the video games."

"Wait!" Alice shrieked, "what is going on?! What happened last night?! And why did YOU just kiss Rosalie?" She demanded, hopping out of her chair and turning towards Emmett.

"Ugh, Alice, stop screaming," Emmett groaned, covering his ears, "It's too early."

"Rosalie?" Alice inquired, with her hands on her hips.

Rosalie blushed feverishly and stuttered out, "W-well last night, Edward walked in on Emmett and I when we were…..u-um declaring our feelings for one another and then, well-"

"In other words, to make things short," Edward interjected, "Rosalie loves Emmett, Emmett loves Rosalie, and they're together now. That's it."

"What he said," Emmett garbled through a mouthful of eggs.

"Oh, well you could have said that before," Alice scoffed, sitting back down in front of her plate.

"Congratulations, man!" Jasper pounded Emmett on the back, making him almost choke on his food.

They finished their food in occasional small talk and some planning for the impending week. Alice was rambling on to Rosalie about a shopping trip she wants to plan for all of them to go on; Bella was explaining to Edward about a new book she's wanted to read for the past month; and Jasper was amplifying to Emmett the importance of some military channel, and learning about the World Wars. But knowing Emmett, he most probably wasn't listening.

"So you see, Emmett, the Treaty of Versailles was speeding up remilitarization and introducing conscri-"

"Yeah, that's great, Jazz," Emmett interrupted him with a light smack on the shoulder, and headed off towards the stairs in the front room.

They all laughed at Emmett's lack of enthusiasm to learn and began cleaning up the kitchen. After everything was either in the sink or washed, they all went off to their rooms to get ready for the day. Once Rosalie reached the second floor, about to head on up to the third, Alice basically dragged her into her room. She sat her on her bed, and turned on the heel of her foot, "Start talking, now."

"What do you want me to say?" Rosalie played dumb.

"Oh please, Rose! Cut the crap, just tell me already!"

Rosalie grumbled, "Fine."

***

That night they all settled themselves in the living room for a movie night. Jasper popped Saving Private Ryan, go figure, into the DVD player and sat back down with Alice. Jasper and Alice sat snuggled up on the loveseat with an exaggerated amount of blankets. Bella and Edward lay on the main couch with a blanket draped over their bodies, and Emmett and Rosalie sat side by side on the floor. She was comfortably tucked under his arm with one of her arms draped over his waist, as he leaned on the couch that Edward and Bella were on.

An hour into the movie people began to fall asleep; Alice, Bella and Edward were all knocked out.

"Hey Rosie, you awake?" Emmett asked Rosalie softly, tilting his head down to whisper in her ear.

"Yeah, why?" she asked, glancing up at him.

"No just wondering," He hesitated, "Um, but, do you remember that time when I first brought you over here and I told you that my parents were two of the three most important people in my world?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Because I wanted you to know," Emmett pressed his lips to her temple, "that you were the third person."

**Awwwww c: what did you guys think??? I hope you liked this chapter! I wanted fluff! Cause I love fluff lol**

**REVIEW PLEASE! Tell me what you think! :)**


	13. the oceans of her dreams

February fourteen was right around the corner. And the men of the house were practically yanking their hairs out, particularly Emmett. Edward and his charismatic witty self always had something up his sleeve for his Bella. But Emmett on the other hand has never celebrated a holiday or really given anything to Rosalie, besides his love and a home. Jasper knew exactly what to get his fiancée; he's had it intended for weeks. He was planning on purchasing two silver matching bands for their wrists, one for Alice and one for him, as well as having them engraved; the outside of his stating, "_I'm forever hers_," when the interior reads, "_Alice_." As for hers, it's going to read, "_I'm forever his_," as the inside states his name, "_Jasper_." So he had his Valentines Day gift covered, lucky him.

Emmett was constantly running back and forth from Edward to Jasper asking for their advice on what he should get Rosalie. In the long run, one of them eventually got fed up with his inexhaustible annoyance, "Emmett! I'm sorry, but you're going to have to think of something yourself! Stop running in here like that, I need to finish composing this song for Bella if I plan on playing it for her!" Edward seethed at him, crumbling a paper filled with notes in his fist.

"But Ed, I can't think of anything! Valentines Day is tomorrow!" Emmett complained, throwing his hands up in the air.

"I don't know, Em. Just...make something for her, or make her a special dinner, I don't know. Just do something."

Emmett left Edward's room nervous and extremely agitated. He thought at light speed, repeating what Edward had said in his head, _make something for her, or make her a special dinner..._then it all clicked, that was precisely what he was going to do, give her a night to remember. On a whim, he grabbed his keys and raced out of the house. Emmett took a drive to the super market, buying all he thought he might need. Which could have been said was the entire store. After his scavenger hunt, he headed off towards Kay Jewelers to top off Rosalie's night.

Emmett pulled into the driveway, reaching for his cell phone in his jean pocket and dialed in Jasper's number. He picked up on the third ring, "What, Emmett?"

"Come outside and help me with the groceries."

He hung up the phone and made his way to the trunk of his Jeep. "Why'd you buy all this shit?" Jasper asked, stepping in next to Emmett, and grabbing four grocery bags.

"Rose's Valentines Day surprise."

"You got her groceries for Valentines Day?" Jasper laughed.

"No you idiot. I'm making her something special. You know a nice dinner and flowers." Emmett said, grabbing five groceries in one hand, and the last two in the other. They shut the trunk between the two of them with their elbows since their hands were occupied.

They set the bags down on the kitchen counter and Jasper disappeared off to the Jewelers to pick up Alice's gift. Emmett sighed, knowing he was in for a long night preparing for tomorrow.

***

On the other side of the house were Rosalie, Bella, and Alice all lounging in Rosalie's room talking and brainstorming for the next day. They all knew that the boys were planning something charming for each of them, but they were just curious to find out what. "What could Edward possibly give me? I hate gifts, and he knows it," Bella burst out, falling back onto Rosalie's bed.

"I don't know, but what could Jazz get me? He never buys me things just because I buy them myself before he gets the chance to," Alice responded, as if stating the obvious.

With a sigh Rosalie plopped down on the bed next to Bella, "Guys don't worry, I bet whatever they get you guys are going to be amazing. It's Jasper and Edward for crying out loud, their hopeless romantics!"

Alice halted the steady pace she kept and turned towards Rosalie, "Aren't you the least bit curious of what Emmy's going to do for you?"

She shook her head and replied, "No, not really. I don't care if he doesn't even get me anything. I've never really celebrated a Valentines Day so it's all a mystery to me."

They gave Rosalie sympathetic looks and both leaned in to hug her, "Guys, stop," Rosalie complained, being instantly squished by Bella and Alice both.

"Rose, don't worry. I bet what Emmy's doing for you is going to be great!" Alice squealed jumping up and clapping her hands.

"Whatever you say Alice," Rosalie said, "But wait, what are we going to get them?"

Bella propped herself up against the head board, facing Rosalie and scoffed, "The boys aren't getting anything from us."

"Why?" Rosalie asked in astonishment, "Aren't we kind of supposed to?"

"Not us, no." Alice piped in, "We have all made it a tradition that us girls don't get the guys gifts, only the guys get us gifts. Except for Christmas, for Christmas they demand presents."

"Oh, I see ha-ha. Why'd you guys start this tradition in the first place?"

Silence overtook the room and Alice faced Bella, tilting her head in slight confusion, "I don't really know.....Why did we start this, Bells?"

Bella stayed quiet for moments following; as if forgetting to reply, "Beats me!" she said breaking the silence, making Alice and Rosalie jump.

They remained in the room for most of the day, just talking about random topics and planning their shopping trip the day after Valentine's Day.

***

It was now February 14, past 6:00 PM. And the boys were adding finishing touches to their surprises for their other halves. They made the girls promise to stay upstairs for the entire day. If they needed anything they would either yell or call one of their cell phones. Edward didn't really have much to do because he gave Bella her gift when she woke up. He played her a beautiful song on the piano with very few lyrics and humming. When his composition ended, Bella had tears streaming down her face, "Oh my gosh, Edward! That was beautiful!" waking up the whole house in the process.

Most of the day Emmett spent preparing for that night. He cleaned the house, decorated the backyard, cooked Rosalie dinner, and wrapped her present in a petite pink gift bag. To much of his dismay, the evening came around sooner than he hoped for. He flew up to his room to take a quick shower and get changed. He settled on wearing black dress pants, and a midnight blue dress shirt rolled up to his elbows.

He sprinted back down the stairs meeting Jasper at the bottom of the last step. "You ready, man?"

"When am I ever not ready for something?" Jasper boasted.

They laughed together, baritone with tenor, as a sweet voice yelled from the third floor, "Guys we're going downstairs now!"

Emmett and Jasper took deep breaths and readied themselves. First descended Alice in a black spaghetti strapped cocktail dress, looking cute as ever. Then descended Bella, wearing a dark blue skin tight dress, accentuating her curves in the prefect places, with her hair in a half ponytail.

"Where's Edward?" she asked, disappointed that he wasn't there to see her.

"I'm right here!" Edward puffed out, running in from the kitchen and skidding to a stop next to Jasper.

Bella met the last step as Rosalie finally came into view from the second floor. All Emmett could do was gape at her, jaw dropped. She wore a blood red halter dress that swirled at the bottom with every step she took; her golden hair was neatly set in gentle curls tumbling down her back.

She reached the bottom step and took one of Emmett's hands in hers, "Oh, don't you look dashing," she giggled, peering up at him from underneath her lashes.

"Rosie, you look amazing," Emmett grinned, exposing his dimples. "Here," he said handing her the pink gift bag.

They smiled at each other for an immeasurable moment but where interrupted by Edward, "Em, Rose have fun tonight. The rest of us are heading out to dinner. See ya'll later." At that they all scrambled out the front door, giving Emmett the family free night he asked for.

"Well aren't you going to open it?" Emmett asked, gesturing towards the gift in her hand.

Rosalie opened the bag and took out a soft Jewelry box. She lifted the lid and gasped at what she saw. Inside was a silver locket. It had the indentations of a delicate Rose on the front; Emmett reached for it and flipped it over inside the box to demonstrate the back. In a soft cursive it read, "_I Love You, Rosie. Forever."_

"Oh Emmett," she whispered, glancing up at him from behind her tears, "it's so beautiful."

Impulsively, Emmett wrapped Rosalie in his arms and kissed her fully on the mouth. "I love you, Emmett, forever." She alleged against his lips.

**FINALLY DONE WITH THIS CHAPTER! xD I hope you liked it! I had a deadline to finish this tonight xD**

**Hope you enjoyed this one, i'll continue soon :) REVIEW!**


	14. the flood of pain

"Rose?" Alice whispered, shaking Rosalie by the shoulders. She was attempting and failing to wake her up, "Rosalie?"

Rosalie let out a muffled groan and flopped over onto her stomach, hiding her face, "Go away, Alice."

"No Rose, we need to talk about yesterday!" Alice bounced on the bed, "Pleaseeee!"

Rosalie cursed under her breath and turned back over onto her back. "What, Alice?"

Alice pouted, "Someone's grouchy in the morning. Well anyway, I wanted to know what happened last night when we left! Tell me everything! Every detail!"

Rosalie sighed, "What's to tell? We ate dinner, he decorated the backyard for me, and he gave me this locket," she finished, placing her hand over the locket around her neck.

"A locket?! Let me see!" Alice shooed her hand away and replaced it with hers, she flipped it over a million times and opened it about a million more times, "Rosalie, this is beautiful....Oh! I almost forgot, look at what Jazzy got me," Alice held out her wrist so Rosalie could inspect it.

"Aw! That's so sweet, Alice, he really loves you doesn't he?"

Alice stared off into space and smiled lovingly, "Yes, I suppose he does."

"Well then how about you go wake up Jasper, and let me get changed and stuff," Rosalie suggested hopefully. Alice nodded and danced out of Rosalie's room, shutting the door on her way out. _Finally, the evil little pixie's gone_ Rosalie inwardly chuckled, grinning to herself.

She reluctantly climbed out of bed and headed towards her bathroom for a quick hot shower. As she waited for the water to warm up, Rosalie trapped her reflection in the mirror and stared back at herself, as she did when she had first arrived here. Her bruises had fortunately all disappeared, besides the few that were still noticeably fading near her stomach. She even looked healthier, her cheek bones as well as her ribs no longer protruded out of her skin, seeming warmer and softer to the touch. Her body was curvier too, but yet still beautiful. She smiled at herself in the mirror, thrilled with her new life, and stepped into the shower.

After changing and getting ready, Rosalie wasn't really in her usual sociable mood, but still made her way down the two flights of stairs. She strode past the living room, not taking notice of who was in there, and reached her destination, the kitchen. She made herself a bowl of Lucky Charms then decided to head back towards the living room.

The flat screen was turned on and blaring out the end scores of a football game. There sat Emmett and Edward quarrelling and practically yelling at the TV about who should have won the game, who cheated and so on and so forth. Completely unnoticed, Rosalie situated herself at the other end of couch that Edward and Emmett were sitting on, and began munching on her Lucky Charms.

Hearing her spoon tinkling against the bowl, Edward's head whipped towards the sound "Rosalie?"

Emmett turned too, confused, "Hey babe, how long have you been there? You could've said something instead sitting there all by yourself," he laughed and made his way over to her.

"Just a little while, eating my Lucky Charms, ya know," she smiled taking a bite out of her cereal, as Emmett kissed her forehead and plopped down next to her.

There was an awkward moment of silence, but was broken when Emmett yelled at the TV, resulting in Edward also yelling at the TV. Rosalie sighed and continued eating her breakfast in peace.

"SHOPPING TIME!" Alice shouted, literally flying down the stairs towards the living room, "Guys! Get your lazy asses up and let's go!"

Two groans echoed throughout the room. "Alice, no, why?" Edward whined.

"Because I said so," she snapped, "Now, up!"

Grudgingly, the three of them rose to their feet and waited for Jasper and Bella to descend from upstairs. Bella bounced down each step, as she tied her hair up in a ponytail, "Ugh, Alice, are you seriously making us go shopping?"

Alice crossed her arms, frustrated, "Yes I am, now where's Jasper?"

"Here" he said, throwing a shirt over the tousled hair on his head. "We can go."

Edward and Bella drove in the Volvo, as Jasper, Alice, Emmett and Rosalie followed along in the Camaro. Rosalie wasn't the least bit bothered about going shopping, unlike the other four; she enjoys it almost as much as Alice. But she just didn't show it, she's only gone a few times in her whole life, and cherished each time.

"Are we there yet? The faster we get there the sooner we can leave," Emmett murmured the last part, not in the mood to feel his twin's wrath.

"Yes Emmy, we are," she gave him a kind and patient smile. He couldn't stay annoyed with her when she looked back at him like that; he sighed and smiled back at her.

Minutes shortly, both vehicles pulled into the mall parking garage and parked side by side on the second level. The group scrambled out of their cars and made their way into the mall. Alice dragged them all into each store and made them try on everything she wanted. No one could deny Alice when she jutted her lower lip out and unleashed her big brown puppy dog eyes. After a while they actually began to enjoy themselves, especially the boys.

It all started with Alice forcing Jasper to try on skin tight black leather pants, much to his denial, he could never refuse his love. When he walked out of the dressing room, a chorus of laughter erupted through the store. Looking at himself in the mirror, he couldn't help but chuckle at the way he looked. Then the other two began trying on ridiculously hideous clothes and strutting across the store as if on a runway. They all found fun in this and did it for most of the day at the mall.

Hours later, they somehow all ended up huddled at the back of a Victoria Secret store, in front of the dressing rooms. "Emmett, come out of there. We're here having fun and you're just ruining it all," Rosalie scolded him.

"Rosie, I look completely ludicrous!" he boomed from behind a dressing room, "You can't seriously want me to go out there, can you?"

"Yes, I can. We all can. Now out!" she demanded, holding back a chuckle. Emmett grumbled, obviously pissed and stepped out of the room, trying to hide as much as possible. The other five stared dumbstruck and almost immediately were on the floor in a round of hysterics, with tears in their eyes.

Emmett wore black booty shorts, a bow tie, and that's it. He stood there, extremely uncomfortable and embarrassed. He shifted from one foot to the other as the laughter finally ceased. "Aw, babe you look so sexy," Rosalie teased, "You want me to buy those shorts for you? I will if you want them."

Emmett shot a glare at her and scoffed, "No I don't want these, they're for chicks, and they're uncomfortably short."

His little remark made them all double over in snickers, once again. "Okay, I'm changing." He fumed, turning back into the dressing room.

They waited patiently as Emmett changed back into his jeans and T-shirt. They planned out what they were going to continue doing for the rest of their shopping spree. Emmett, Jasper and Edward kept trying on clothes in different stores as Rosalie, Alice and Bella were going to take the more than six bags and place them in the cars, since they might need more hands when they keep shopping. They made their way back towards the parking garage and took the elevator up to the second floor.

"Bella, you have Edward's keys?" Rosalie asked from beside Alice.

She dangled the keys in one of her occupied hands, "yup."

Rosalie loitered as Alice set her bags down and opened up the trunk of Jasper's Camaro. She recalled on the amazing time they've all had together, she thought of how much she loved her new family. How welcoming and perfect every single one of them have been to her. And she thought of Emmett, the one true love of her life. But in that instant she was abruptly broken out of her thoughts.

"Why, look who it is! Rosalie Hale!" a nasally voice boomed, a couple of feet behind them.

Rosalie knew that voice. She's heard it so many times before as part of her torturous past, she couldn't quite remember from where though. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, memories of the life she had with her father flooded behind her eyes. Her heart kicked up a notch and beat furiously against her ribcage; she shivered as recognition dawned on her.

Rosalie turned on her heel painfully slow, and her breath caught in her throat, "Royce...."

**MUHAHAHAHA!:D Say what? Royce?????? xD**

**Hmmm, what will happen in the next chapter? You want to find out?...**

**THEN REVIEW and I'll write and post up the next one! I hope you liked this one c: hehe thank you.**


	15. staining her pride

Rosalie stood her ground, frozen. Unable to speak or move a limb, her bottom lip quivered as fear washed through her inert body. The blood drained from her face, speeding up her racing heart. She couldn't construct an explicable clear thought of how Royce King could have ever found her. "Well it sure is _really_ nice to see you, Miss Hale, and who are these other beautiful girls?" he sneered, shifting positions towards Bella and Alice.

Right then, Rosalie's body unlocked and she leaped in front of Alice heaving Bella in back of her body in the same motion, "Leave them alone." She replied, an unknown ferocity seeping through her words.

Royce chuckled and took another step towards them, "Oh lookie here, trying to be all tough now aren't we?"

"Rose, who is this? What's going on?" Alice panicked, from in back of Rosalie. But Royce spoke up before she could, glancing at Alice's small frame from behind Rosalie, "Let's just say, I'm an old friend of her fathers."

Alice shivered violently, recalling everything Rosalie told them about her past, her father and the two men, one of them which were standing mere feet away. Suddenly, Bella tore her arm from Rosalie's grip and stepped in front of her, "What do you want? Why are you here?"

Rosalie's heart nearly stopped at Bella's unexpected courage. "Well, now that's not your concern now is it," Royce retorted, taking another step towards the three.

Bella immediately backed up against Rosalie. Causing them to all gradually back away from Royce, until they were pressed against the Camaro's rear, the fear was clearly evident on each of their faces. Royce kept advancing on them now in touching distance. Rosalie thought of running. But they had no where to run in a dark and empty garage, Royce was incredibly quick, he'd gain on them, and who knows what he would do.

Royce stood there, staring at them with a sadistic glint in his eyes. Abruptly, he seized Bella around the neck and thrust her against the Volvo, her head denting the bumper as she fell limp on the concrete. At the same instant, Royce grabbed Alice by the hair from behind Rosalie and pummeled her to the ground, leaving Rosalie standing in front of him. He swiftly clutched the back of Rosalie's head, and dragged her face to his, "You shouldn't have run away, Rosalie," he rebuked, his breath reeking of alcohol, "Your father had plans for you, the _three_ of ushad plans and things we wanted to do to you."

Rosalie sniveled and tore herself out of his grip, pushing him to the ground with all of her might.

Alice jumped up on her feet and reached Rosalie, at the same moment Royce did. "You little bitches," he roared at them, and punched Alice in the face. Her petite body literally flew towards the Camaro; she let out a small whimper as she impacted with the ground. Rage overcame Rosalie's senses and she pounced on him, falling with him towards the ground. She attacked every detestable part of him she could reach but in just seconds was yanked off by another strong body. She landed in a heap near Alice who was weeping and trembling on the ground. Rosalie twisted her neck to see that the other degrader was Billy, a second part of the trio that had made her life a living hell.

Alice wobbled to her feet to help her best friend, but was cut short as Billy Black rammed into her body at an unthinkable force followed by a burst of kicks and punches. Meanwhile, Royce grabbed hold of Rosalie's arm, snapping it by the angle in which he tugged at it. A gurgling cry escaped Rosalie, her body tensed from the pain as Royce began to punch and kick as Billy did. Alice and Rosalie fought back with all their strength, but they were no match for two men who could pass as pro wrestlers. The depraved men had them pinned to the ground and tore the clothes off of the girl's backs, leaving them in nothing but their undergarments. They immediately shivered from the cold breeze of the parking garage.

**Bella's POV**

An agonized cry woke me out of the darkness. I snapped my eyes open and unconsciously my hand flew up to the searing pain in my head, just to feel an open gash on the left side of my head, and a pool of blood in my hair, dripping down the side of my face. My whole body ached. I raised my torso in a seated position as I summoned up the previous moments that had occurred. In remembrance, my head snapped towards the spot we had all previously stood.

Now there were two men assaulting Rosalie and Alice. There backs were to me, but from behind them I caught sight of my two best friends, half naked, and receiving the worst beatings my eyes have ever witnessed.

Help. We need help, now.

Fortunately, the men weren't paying attention to me so I had time to flee and seek assistance. I inaudibly sprung to my feet, and broke out into a sprint across the parking garage and back towards the mall. As I reached the doors, I didn't dare glance back, afraid of what I would see. I reached into my back pocket as I shoved through the double doors, shit my phone must have fallen out. I could just call Edward but without it, this'll take me too much time. And we don't have time. I pushed myself down the stairs, back towards the first floor of the mall, as fast as my legs would go without collapsing from their aching protests. Ignoring the millions of stares boring into my back, I dashed into Victoria Secret in search for the boys.

Fuck my life, they weren't there.

I scurried off into each store until I finally found them in Pacsun, at the back of the store, near the dressing rooms. I raced past the kind bystanders who would occasionally ask me if I was alright, and reached the guys. I collided and then collapsed against Edward, who was thankfully the closest to me. "Bella?! What is it, what's wrong?! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR HEAD?!" he panicked, cradling my head in his hands.

"Bella, what's going on, what happened? Where are Rose and Alice?!" Jasper shouted through the store.

I caught my breath and jumbled out as fast as my mouth would move, "Royce found her! Guys, I'll explain after! We need to get back to the parking garage, NOW! And one of you go calling 911, we're going to need it!"

Right after the name Royce had escaped my lips; Emmett took a head start, and had already fled the store. We all ran after him and quickly attained him, sprinting side by side. They have to be alright, my two best friends, my sisters, they need to be okay. I can't lose them.

We all took the stairs up two steps at a time, reaching the double doors quickly. Emmett leading us, burst through the doors, as we scurried in back of him. When we caught sight of Rosalie and Alice, they were now completely naked, both pooled in puddles of blood, and now only Royce remained, hovering over Rosalie. He held her around the neck, strangling her blue and black covered body.

**Third person POV**

While Royce shook Rosalie by the neck, she cried and clawed at his hands with her good arm, trying to escape his grip. Her lungs screamed in pain as her eyes rolled to the back of her head from the lack of oxygen.

But then, there was still hope for life, her savior had arrived. Emmett tackled Royce to the ground, next to Rosalie. He grabbed Royce by the neck and punched him over and over. Royce fought back, clipping Emmett a few times, but _nothing_ could take Emmett down when he was like this, nothing. The amount fury and energy that coursed through his body was incredible. He knocked out Royce in less than two minutes.

As Emmett took deep breaths to compose himself, he rushed back over to Rosalie, taking off his shirt in the process to cover up her exposed body. He cradled her torso in his arms, inspecting every inch of her to make sure she wasn't wounded or badly harmed, "Rosie?" he asked, his voice cracking, "Are you alright?"

She replied with an agonized whimper, falling into unconsciousness from the trauma and pain. He could almost feel his heart breaking from the sight of his angel. Emmett lifted her bridal style, and turned towards the others to find them standing over Alice, while Jasper sobbed over her body.

"Ali! Is she alright?" Emmett's voice rose an octave from worry. He made his way beside Alice with Rosalie in his arms. Placed over Alice was Jasper's T-shirt, but it was somehow strangely sticking to her, as if it were drenched. Emmett's heart skipped a beat as he unthinkingly placed Rosalie in Edward's arms and knelt by Alice, moving Jasper's shirt aside. Exposed near her beaten abdomen was a deep wound, one of a stabbing. Tears were now streaming down Emmett's face as an ambulance's sirens rung from a distance and his little sister fought for her life.

**DONE! With this chapter (: oh my gosh, what's going to happen? What's going to happen to Alice?! Hmm....who knows?... I DO! Of course hehe **

**Well then if you want to know, REVIEW and then I'll post up the next chapter! **

**Btw, I'd like to give credit to my bffl Linda, who contributed many idea's to this chapter! I LOVE YOU! And check out her story Angelo Custode, penname being werewolflvr....her story's getting soo good :D hehe**

**Well yes that is it, I'll continue if I get reviews!**

**Thank you!**


	16. moonlight falls across your floor

Emmett, Jasper, Edward and Bella dashed in through the hospital's automatic doors right behind the four paramedics who hastily balanced in the two stretchers. Rosalie and Alice both lay completely unconscious. And one in which was desperately fighting for her life. Alice's condition had only worsened on the drive to the hospital, the bumpy roads and traffic jams caused everything to be one hundred times worse. Her open wound was slowly taking her away, away from her family, away from Jasper, away from this Earth.

Three nurses and two doctors met them as they stepped through the doors, one elderly nurse ushered Bella into a hospital room to stitch up her bleeding gash, the whole left side of her head was now soaked in blood. The two doctors, which happened to be Dr. Cullen and Dr. McKinley, rushed over towards the stretchers. Carlisle had tears in his cobalt eyes, as he gazed over his daughter, Alice. Though he specialized in surgery, he couldn't take on treating his daughter, his emotions would interfere with his task, and he couldn't risk anything with his little girl. He kissed his daughter's forehead as he held back his tears and painfully turned away from her, towards Rosalie, one he now proudly called family as well.

Dr. McKinley and the two other nurses quickly removed the drenched T-shirt that shielded Alice's body to check over her stabbing, and were then instantly wheeling her in to the trauma center for emergency surgery. That left Jasper standing by the double doors, clutching the bracelet he gave Alice for Valentines Day in his palm, he found it near one of the Camaro's back tires in the parking garage of the mall. His whole frame currently shook in fright as the tears silently poured down his face.

At that same moment, Carlisle and Emmett maneuvered Rosalie into a close by hospital room. But Carlisle halted at the entrance, placing an unsteady hand on Emmett's shoulder, "Son, I suggest you wait outside with Jasper, he needs someone right now. And you are not permitted in this room as I work and check over her." He affirmed gently.

Emmett simply nodded and tuned towards the seats in the waiting room. He sat in the exact same seat he sat in when he first brought Rosalie to the hospital many months ago. He shook his head, not wanting to recall on those memories and decided he needed a distraction. He glanced up from the freshly polished floor, and found Jasper still standing where they arrived, staring off to where they took Alice, with one hand balled up into a tight fist. A light gleam bounced off the silver in his palm, _Alice's bracelet_, Emmett thought as he saw a little piece of it exposed.

With a sigh, Emmett stood and made his way ever so gradually to his best friend, "Jazz, man come sit down. Let's talk a bit, we haven't really talked like we used to in weeks."

Jasper just stood there, staring off into nothing, and gave him slight shake of denial with his head. His face was masked and expressionless, hiding what he felt.

Emmett placed his hand on Jasper's shoulder, "Come on, dud-"

"I said. No, Emmett," he cut off icily, shrugging Emmett's hand brusquely off of his shoulder.

Emmett stood there for a while longer, and then headed back towards his seat, not wanting to set Jasper over the edge. He decided to call Tristan and Jennifer and inform them on what occurred today. Though they were never with the group anymore, too absorbed with each other, they still had a right to know. The phone rang a few times before Tristan picked up, "Yo Em, how's it going?"

Emmett ran a hand through his curls, nervously, "Not good, Tristan. Listen, something bad happened today," he let out a deep shuddering breath and continued, "remember when we found those two men beating up, Rosie?"

Tristan hesitated,"Yes, why?"

"Well one of them, Royce King or something, found....Rosalie today in the parking garage of the mall. Look let me just start from the beginning. Bells, Alice and Rose went ahead to take our shopping bags to the cars, and that's when Royce found her," Emmett paused, holding his tears back as he grazed a hand over his face, "not only did that motherfucker beat the shit out of Rosalie, no he fucking cut open the side of Bella's head, and Alice is currently in emergency surgery from being stabbed! Fuck!" the tears once again, spilled over his cheeks.

"Shit, no. Shit, shit, shit. _Jen, get my keys and meet me in the car, quick! I'll explain on the way_," Emmett heard him almost bark at Jennifer over the line, "Emmett, we'll be there soon, hold tight." And the phone clicked.

Jasper _still_ stood there, in apparent shock. The trembling eventually stopped but the tears never did. It's as if they had an on and off button and the off button was malfunctioning, keeping the waterworks flowing down his flustered cheeks. He mechanically fell back onto the wall behind him and slid down upon it. As his shoulders slumped forward, his legs sprawled out in front of him carelessly, and his head lolled back against the wall.

His love for Alice is unconditional and never endless; it just kept growing, infinitely. He hoped that his Ali could be saved; no he _knew_ that she would. Alice could never let him down, she couldn't leave him.

As soon as Tristan and Jennifer stepped into the hospital, Bella and Edward exited the room where Bella was being stitched up in. Edward had an arm snaked around his wife's waist, supporting her, as she cleaned off her bloodied hair and face with a white rag, "Bells?!" Tristan automatically veered off towards her, "Are you okay?! Emmett told me what happened, you want me to call dad?"

She loosened out of Edward's grip to embrace her brother in a tight hug, "Yes Tris, I'm fine. And no need to call Charlie, I already called him a while ago; he said that he arrived in the cruiser at the mall's parking garage a few minutes after the ambulance fled. He found Royce still unconscious, then slapped him awake, and took him under arrest."

"Oh thank god," Emmett breathed, walking over to them near the doors. "That fucking son of a bitch. He. Is. Going. To. Pay," he said each word individually, clenching his teeth.

Bella's brow furrowed, remembering an essential detail, "Guys wait I can almost swear that I saw another man...hurting Alice, before I went to find you. As a matter a fact, I'm positive that I did. He was big, not all muscle like you Emmy, but like Royce, and he had russet skin with long black hair."

Emmett's faced paled, "Billy. Billy Black."

"Who's Billy Black?"

"That's the other guy that we found months ago....beating up, Rosie," he replied sounding distant.

"Crap, did you guys catch him?" Tristan asked.

Emmett tensed, his massive back going stiff, "No, we didn't. I didn't even know he was there until now. Damn it that means he's still out there somewhere, fuck we need to find him."

"I'll call my dad and give him a description of Black's appearance. Edward, let me borrow your phone again," Bella practically demanded, hobbling towards the waiting room.

No one had taken notice of Jennifer who was now close to the wall squatting over her older brother, "Jazz, Are you alright? Alice will be fine, you'll see," she stated sympathetically, placing a hand over his knee. Jasper gave no sign of hearing her. In fact, he just sat there, both legs sprawled out in front of him, his right hand still gripping onto Alice's bracelet, and his eyes never left the spot he had last seen her. "Let's go sit with the other's and wait, Jasper."

Once again, he gave no sign that he heard her.

"Jazz, come on," she tugged on his hand, impatiently.

Jasper slowly turned his head to glare at her and retorted, "Jennifer, no. Please, leave me alone," his voice breaking on the last word.

Breaking his intense gaze, Jennifer simply nodded and left him there to join the others. They all sat side by side in the waiting room deep in thought, thinking about the calamities that's occurred that day, it all seemed like a nightmare, like they would all wake up from it any moment now.

A nearby door creaked open, followed by a pair of steady footsteps nearing them. _Emmett's not going to take this news well whatsoever. Hell, even I want to go rip those disgusting men apart, but I can't. I need to keep up my calm facade as good as possible. Poor Rosalie... _Carlisle took a deep shuddering breath, and reached the waiting room. The Cullen's, Swan's and one Hale stood at the sight of him, giving the doctor their full-undivided attention, "Dad, how's Rose? Is she okay?!" Emmett stumbled out.

"Yes, Rosalie is doing better now, she's stable," Dr. Cullen declared, turning towards Emmett, "Son, If you don't mind, may I speak to you alone, please?"

"Uh yeah, yes of course."

Emmett and Carlisle reached the entrance to Rosalie's room, placing a hand on his son's shoulder, Carlisle began informing him on all he needed to now before he entered, "Emmett, here are some things you need to know before you go in there to see Rosalie. Two nurses and I gave her a complete check up, and it's not pretty, at all. She has bruises _all _over her body, multiple cuts, on her abdomen, thankfully only one broken rib this time, a broken arm, and I don't know if you knew this, but Em, please don't act awkward around her, or differently after I tell you this-"

"Dad! Please, just spit it out!" Emmett growled.

"Emmett, Rosalie was raped."

Emmett faltered, and stumbled a few steps back, "What?" he hissed, blinking his tears away.

"I'm so sorry, son. As we placed the hospital gown over her unconscious body, I noticed dried blood on her inner thigh....and I knew you wouldn't be comfortable with me checking her over, so one of the nurses did, and it was certain. It's too early to know anything but when it's time, I will check her over once more."

Emmett couldn't listen to this; he zoned his father out and barged through Rosalie's door. He halted in place when he laid his eyes upon her, his tears now brimming over. She lay motionless; her golden hair draped over her pillow with a serene but at the same time pained expression on her pale and partially bruised face. Emmett's eyes moved slowly down her body, there were purple fingerprints that wrapped around her slender neck exposed behind her hair. He couldn't allow his eyes to move any lower, he didn't want to imagine what had happened. He just couldn't.

Emmett pulled up a plastic chair, and sat himself next to Rosalie. He grabbed her hand that was punctured with that unpleasant needle and tenderly bent his head down to place a kiss on her knuckles. "Oh Rosie, I love you so much..." he choked out, sobbing. He rested their joined hands back on the bed and leaned his head against the back of the chair as he let out many quivering breaths to calm himself. Having an odd sense of deja vu, he closed his emerald eyes and thought about his now broken angel.

***

An awfully long hour later, Jasper hadn't moved from his spot. He overcame some of the shock, and now had his eyes shut tight as he constantly ran a hand through his hair. All the men in their group have grown accustomed to doing that as a sign of nervousness or unease.

When Jasper opened his eyes, they locked with Dr. McKinley's, the surgeon that took Alice away for an hour.

With a sharp intake of breath, he sprung up onto his feet as McKinley neared them. Jasper's eyes never left his as he made his way over to the doctor, closing the distance between them. "What happened?! Alice is fine now, right?!"

Dr. McKinley stared at Jasper for a few seconds, and his face automatically crumpled, "I'm so sorry, boy. We did everything we could to save her, but she was stabbed so deep in the liver, it was impossible....we.." the doctor's head fell forward, as he pondered his thoughts.

"You what?" Jasper demanded, as the violent tremors ripped through his body.

Dr. McKinley looked up at him from behind his glasses, "we lost her."

**Hey lookie there, this chapter was longer! :) hehehehee *giggles nervously***

**YES I did kill Alice, I'm sorry but I just had to. I love her character dearly, but um yeah xDD**

**Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter besides that! Please REVIEW if you did! **

**Thank you! Next chapter shall be posted soon, hopefully :D**


	17. before you're too far gone

Jasper was practically seeing red from the brutally aching shudders that rippled throughout his body. As soon as those three words left McKinley's lips, Jasper dropped to his knees, the sobs tearing fiercely through his chest. The waiting room area had gone utterly silent, as those painful words reached his family. Almost immediately, Dr. McKinley placed a hesitant hand on Jasper's shoulder, "I am so sorry for your loss, but my team and I did everything we could to save her."

Jasper's head snapped up at his words. He shot back up onto his unsteady feet and stepped directly into the doctor's face, inches away from him and sneered, "You're sorry? You're sorry you couldn't save my fiancée? You're sorry that the love of my life is _dead_? You're sorry?! SAYING SORRY ISN'T GOING TO BRING HER BACK NOW IS IT, _DOCTOR!_" Jasper was bellowing into the doctor's face, who was now cringing away from him in bafflement. Jasper's voice could have been heard from across the hospital.

Emmett's chin was propped up next to Rosalie's head on her pillow. She had recently woken up, but was having trouble finding her voice, so she lay there listening to Emmett's consoling whispers in her ear. But he suddenly heard his best friend's voice tainted with agony near the outside of Rosalie's door, his voice caught in his throat and his head whipped towards the door, "...ISN'T GOING TO BRING HER BACK NOW IS IT, _DOCTOR!" _he heard his best friend yell.

_No, no no no no no, this can't be happening no, please,_ Emmett's thoughts were in a frenzy as he darted out the door to see what the commotion was about. He stopped mid stride, as his eyes fell upon Dr. McKinley leaning back slightly as Jasper towered over him, panting, and with an infuriated expression as the tears poured down his cheeks, "What happened?! What's wrong?" Emmett panicked, making his way over to Jasper's side.

"I-I was here explaining to your friend," McKinley started, eyeing Jasper cautiously as he made his way towards Emmett, "that we are all very sorry, but we couldn't save her. Alice, was her name? I am so sorry. I know how hard it must be for you all..." he trailed off, gazing guardedly at Emmett who's back was now ramrod straight, and his muscles strained, struggling against the urge to assassinate the doctor right there. Emmett shook his head from side to side, clenching his fists as he failed to understand the doctor's words.

McKinley gave them a sympathetic look and walked off into another corridor of the hospital. Emmett's stance never wavered, his pulse was pounding furiously behind his ears and he could barely think straight. _Alice, m-my sister. No, how could this have happened, no, no, no, impossible, _his thoughts were set in a jumble. He didn't even notice when Jasper darted from his side and towards Rosalie's room.

Rosalie lay restlessly on the hospital bed; she ached from head to toe. She kept her eyes glued to the door, waiting impatiently for someone to arrive to inform her on what happened outside. The door slammed open, expecting to see Emmett, a small smile spread over her face. Her face fell considerably as Jasper stood there in place of the door, his face was masked in a murderous expression and his eyes were tight, set directly on her. She cringed away from him in alarm. "You," his voice was deadly and flat, "this is _all_ your fault. It's your fault that Alice is dead."

Rosalie gasped, as the tears sprung into her eyes, "What?"

"You heard me. She's dead, Rosalie. And it's you who caused it. It was you who lured in Royce and his friend, maybe not intentionally, but you still did! If Emmett hadn't pitied you when we found you, you wouldn't have been living with us! And you wouldn't have killed my fiancée!!" Jasper shrieked, now hovering over Rosalie's body.

Hearing Jasper screaming from Rosalie's room, Edward and Tristan darted out of the waiting room and into hers. "What's going on in here?! Jasper what are you doing?!" Carlisle shoved through Edward and Tristan and yanked Jasper back a few steps by the jacket. [**A/N. Jasper and Emmett have jacket's on now, to replace their shirtlessness, sorry for not clearing that before]**

"No! Let go of me, this is her fault!" Jasper cried, pointing towards Rosalie.

Carlisle heaved him towards the door, and shoved him out, "Jasper, cool off. This was not Rosalie's fault. She is still extremely weak and you barge in here screaming your head off! Are you insane! We will all miss Ali, you know; you think you're the only one?! She was my daughter!" Carlisle choked, "shame on you Jasper, your parents taught you better than this."

Jasper stared up at Carlisle, taken aback by his words. He mumbled something incoherent, and ran his way out of the hospital. Carlisle pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration as he slowly ambled towards Emmett, who was just mere feet away from the whole scene, "Emmett, son, are you alright?"

Emmett snapped out of his stupor and gaped straight into his father's eyes, "dad..." he sobbed and fell into his father's arms. Carlisle hugged his son tightly, and whispered, "I know Emmett. It's a lot to take in, I'm so sorry. But we'll get through this. We all will, do you understand me?" Emmett nodded shakily against his father's shoulder.

"W-what happened with Jasper? You were yelling..." he stuttered, backing away from his father and wiping his tears away.

Carlisle sighed, "Jasper decided to verbally assault Rosalie, blaming her for...Ali's death. He was completely out of line in doing so, so I stopped him. And then he ran out of the hospital."

Emmett glared in the direction of the doors, ready to run after his so called best friend. But thankfully, Carlisle knew Emmett too well, "Not now son, go see Rosalie. Jasper emotionally hurt her, well from what I heard. Go." With a slight nod of his head, Emmett walked towards Rosalie's room. He took a deep quivering breath and entered, his eyes first falling upon Tristan and Edward in the far right corner of the room. Edward stepped forward with silent tears streaming down his face and embraced his brother in a firm hug. Emmett's eyes closed tight, refusing to let the tears fall from his eyes, again.

Edward let out a trembling breath and left the room to go back to Bella. Tristan followed right behind him, but giving Emmett a comforting pat on the back as he passed him.

The door shut with an audible click, and Emmett opened his eyes, as they slowly fell upon his angel. He stood there with his hands by his side, this is the most defenseless he's ever felt in his entire life, "R-Rosie?" he stuttered.

Rosalie lay with her back to him, despite the wires and broken bones, she managed to lie on her side, with her knees pressed up against her chest. Once she heard her savior's voice, she cried even harder than she was before, afraid of what he would do to her, knowing that it was her fault that his sister died. She lay on her left side, the weight of her body crushing her broken arm, but she effortlessly ignored its sting of protest.

"Rosie, please look at me," Emmett pleaded, now leaning over her back.

She shook her head fiercely, and buried her face deeper into the pillow, clutching onto the locket around her neck, "Rosalie, look at me," Emmett demanded, his voice cold as he placed a hand over her waist.

She shivered involuntarily at his touch, "E-Em, please don't yell at me. I'm sorry. I am so so sorry. It was my fault Alice died. Just don't yell at me, I had enough with J-Jasper," she whimpered weakly.

Rage flared through Emmett as he thought of Jasper yelling at his Rose, he ran a hand through his hair and sat on the edge of her bed, his eyes never leaving her,  
"Rosalie Lillian, I am not going to yell at you. Forgive me; I'm just....please just turn around. I need to see you."

She groaned and slowly turned over onto her back, hissing as her body screamed in pain. A tear escaped from one of her eyes, and Emmett hastily reached to brush it away, but she flinched away from him in unease, seeing Royce's hand instead of her loves, as he would strike her. Rejection washed through Emmett's body as he rose from the bed and sat in the plastic chair next to her. "I'm sorry, just don't touch....I see Royce when he..." Rosalie couldn't continue as she was sobbing once again.

Emmett's eyes tightened, _Fuck no. Jail or not, Billy and Royce are both dead men,_ he thought. Rosalie's breaths were coming out in short gasps; she couldn't have another man touch her, she felt too vulnerable, even if it was just Emmett. Royce's face would pop up behind her eyelids, and she wouldn't be able to handle it as she saw him instead of Emmett.

"I love you," she whispered, her voice cracking near the end.

"Baby, I love you too," Emmett absent mindedly reached out to hold her, but instantly dropped his arms, recalling on the previous moments they just had. He hung his head in shame and leaned back against the chair, contemplating. He couldn't even hold his angel's hand through all of this.

"Emmett, how can you still want me?" she cried, as his head rose to look at her in the eye, "Do you know what Royce did to me? He raped me, Em. He fucking took what wasn't his to take! It wasn't fucking _his_! He had no right to do this to me! I hate him!....Please, j-just leave, I-I can't do this, I know what you're thinking, that I-I'm a worthless whore. You can do better than me, and I know you only took me in out of pity," she sobbed, looking up at him with fresh tears in her eyes.

"Rosalie, what are you talking about? I didn't take you in because I pitied you! I saw something in you that I'd never seen anyone else, you were different and I needed to figure you out," Emmett said, stumbling out of his chair and onto his knees next to Rosalie, his head leveling with hers on the bed, "how the hell can you think so little of yourself? And of me for that matter? Did you not hear anything I told you in the past? That I would love you, forever? I love you so much, and nothing in the world can change that. You don't know how much it pains me to see you like this; I just don't know what to do, tell me. What do you need? I'll do anything for you, babe! Please, I'm staying with you, whether you like it or not!"

She gazed at him with doubtful eyes, and turned her head away, "Emmett, you don't have to do anything for me, you don't need to stay with me-"

"No, I don't _need_ to, but I _want_ to, Rosie. I'm never going to leave you," he whispered close to her ear, "you're my angel."

**Not liking this chapter much. It's ehhh, idk lol. Well anyways, finished this one! I hope you enjoyed it! Thank you all for reading! **

**I'll post up the next depending on the amount of reviews I get! :D**

**So remember, REVIEW if you liked it :)**


	18. take hold of your heart

It was now a week after Alice's demise. Carlisle and Esme took care of everything, including the decision in having her cremated. No body knew what to say, no body had anything _to_ say. The only person that would have the least bit of a say in the matter wasn't around much that week. Edward and Bella had only seen Jasper twice in those seven days. When they would occasionally go home from the hospital, they would see him completely expressionless lounging around the mansion, as if nothing had ever happened. But Edward knew his best friend, he knew Jasper was just bottling it all in, he knew that soon enough he would break.

Such as on Thursday, Edward went back to the house to pick up a few clothes for Emmett, since he wouldn't dare leave Rosalie's side for a second. Edward climbed up the stairs on his way to Emmett's room when he heard sobbing coming from the second floor, from his little sister's room. He hesitantly made his way into her room when he halted at the entrance. Jasper was curled up into a ball on her bed, clutching the bracelet he had engraved for her in one of his hands. His eyes were closed tight but the tears were streaming freely down his cheeks, landing on her pillow. Edward saw the pain evident on Jasper's face; he felt a pang of regret for walking in there to begin with. Edward didn't tell anyone of what he had witnessed, not even Bella. He couldn't betray his friend like that.

It was Sunday, the day Rosalie was permitted to leave the hospital and she was surprisingly reluctant to leave. She was afraid of what everyone would think of her when she arrived. Edward hadn't stepped a foot in her hospital room all week, and Bella only visited once or twice. Carlisle was obligated to see her, since he was her doctor. And Esme thankfully, visited about four times. When she saw Rosalie lying in that bed, she rushed over to her and embraced her in a loose hug, to not hurt her, and cried into her shoulder. Though the hug troubled Rosalie immensely, she couldn't disappoint Esme.

Well at least now Rosalie knew she wasn't being blamed by two people about Alice's death, Esme and Emmett. He refused to leave her side. Though she still wasn't comfortable touching anybody, including Emmett, it didn't matter to him; he would earn her trust back no matter the cost.

"Rosie, are you sure I can't get you a wheelchair? Or I can carry you if you want?" Emmett and Rosalie were leaving the hospital and were about to reach the automatic doors towards the parking lot. He noticed her limping and the crease set between her eyebrows, but she couldn't help it. She was still unbearably sore from _that_ day, every inch of her body throbbed.

She stopped and closed her eyes directly in front of the doors, and let out a gust of air she'd been holding in, "its okay, Em. I can walk perfectly fine."

His eyes tightened slightly, seeing easily through her lies but simply nodded, fiddling with the keys in his hands as they made their way to the jeep.

In a very gentlemanly fashion Emmett opened the passenger door for her and offered her his hand, but she subtly denied it. He let out a low growl but was lucky enough that Rose didn't hear it. He couldn't even help her into a damn car for crying out loud.

Emmett leaned in close to her seat as she not so discreetly flinched away, "Don't worry, Rose; I'm not going to touch you. I'm just readjusting your seat so you won't have to lean forward so much. You're practically against the dashboard."

"Alright."

He slammed her door shut and leaped into the driver's seat, instantly stepping on the gas and speeding home. Rosalie had already gotten accustomed to the Cullen's and Hale's maniacal driving, so she didn't protest when the little needle behind the steering wheel passed one hundred mph. They stared out of the windshield in an uncomfortable silence, but was broken when Emmett spoke up, "Are you okay?"

"Yes Em," her faint smile not reaching her eyes.

Emmett glanced away from the road to frown at Rosalie, _don't fucking lie to me Rose, I know you're not okay_ he almost said out loud, but ran a hand through his hair to clear his head, "No you're not. I know when you're lying. Tell me, Rosalie."

"I'm fine," she replied curtly, putting an end to the conversation that hadn't even really begun yet.

They arrived at the house a few short moments after, not speaking a word to one another. They entered the house and saw Edward and Bella sitting on the couch watching home videos of their childhood. Hearing the door open, both of their heads swiveled towards their direction, and they saw Emmett and Rosalie standing awkwardly next to each other. Edward darted off the couch to pause the TV, and Bella turned to face them, her eyes were red rimmed and puffy, as well as her husbands.

"Rose, you're back! I thought you were arriving at night," Bella said, skipping over to them, and taking Rosalie in a hug. Rosalie automatically stiffened and backed away. "Oh, I-I'm sorry," Bella stumbled, dropping her arms self consciously.

Rosalie shook her head and brushed it off with a grimace, "its fine."

Bella nodded, "Okay, um well Rose, you want something to eat? I cooked for Edward and Jazz, a while ago. And I'm sure there's some left over."

"No, it's okay. I think I'm just going to go up to my room for a bit."

"Rosalie, you should eat. The last time you ate was last night. And that was barely any-"

"Emmett, I'm not hungry," Rosalie kept her shoulders slouched forward, and without even a glance at Emmett, she passed in front of him to leave the room. She held in her screams of pain from her aching abdomen as she headed up the stairs. Never stopping to catch her breath, she hurried to her room on the third floor, and slammed the door shut as she stepped inside.

Rosalie gasped; it felt like someone was clawing at her insides. She slid down the back of her door, and whimpered as she landed on the ground. She was breathing heavily which just added to the pain in her abdomen. Tightly wrapping her arms around herself, she tucked her head between her knees, and focused on breathing normally. When her pulse was finally at a normal rate, she crawled over onto her bed and curled in on herself over the sheets. She gripped onto her plastered arm as it seared from the position she was in. She clamped her eyes closed and forced herself into a deep sleep.

***

"Bells, I don't know what to do. I can't touch her, I can't get her anything, everything I offer her she refuses, and I can't even help her get into a fucking car!" Emmett boomed across the kitchen, as he absentmindedly picked at the food his sister-in-law cooked.

Bella sighed, "Em, I don't know what to tell you. She's going through a lot right now. Hell! We all are after....But Emmett, Rosalie was raped," she lowered her voice as Emmett cringed at her words; "It doesn't surprise me that she wants to be alone for a while. Time will only tell, dear."

Bella kindly patted his hand and exited the kitchen to join Edward in the living room. Emmett leaned over the counter, pondering her words. _I need my bed_, he yawned.

He took the stairs two at a time but halted as Jasper emerged from the second floor. They stood there facing each other for an immeasurable moment, until Jasper spoke, "Look, Em, I'm going to head out for a while," his voice shook, "I think I'm going to go stay with Jen at our house."

"Yeah okay, if that's what you want. By the way, Jazz," Emmett said, stopping Jasper with a hand to his chest, "I think Rosalie deserves an apology for the way you treated her back at the hospital. That was way out of line, dude."

Jasper tensed and ripped away from Emmett and bounded down the stairs, "she doesn't deserve my apology," he sneered as he rammed through the front door, the hinges clinking against each other. Anger boiled deep down in Emmett, but he hastily ran up to the third floor, difficultly ignoring Jasper's little show.

He planned on checking on Rosalie, but her door was closed so he figured she wanted to be alone. As Emmett stepped into his room he had already taken his shirt off and threw it in a corner on his hamper. He kicked off his shoes, unbuckled his belt and stripped out of his jeans, leaving only his boxers on. He slid under the covers and recalled on everything that has happened the last weeks, allowing the grief to conquer his body, and the tears seep into his pillow.

**I promise the next chapter will be better! And longer! I'm sick, so it came out like crap, I wrote this shit through a damn headache -.-**

**I'm sorry if it disappoints, but oh well hehe. If you liked it, REVIEWWWW! :D**

**Thank you! I'll post up the next one depending on the amount of reviews I receiveeeee. :) **

**Btw exciting things will begin to happen soon:) well sort of, in the next couple of chapters.**


	19. may i be your shield?

Rosalie awoke to the smell of scrambled eggs and bacon. She threw her legs over the side of the bed and immediately bounded up to her feet; she staggered from the lack of movement, and fell back onto her bed with an inaudible plop. Unexpected pain lashed throughout her body, "still sore, great," she mumbled to herself and she slowly attempted to rise to her feet again. She made it to the bathroom with less difficulty than she thought, and without delay took her pain killers out of the medicine cabinet. She swallowed two without water, in desperate need for some relief from the agony she was in. Rosalie turned her shower on to almost-scalding water and stepped in after carefully peeling the clothes off of her back.

The hot water calmed her nerves and soothed her muscles, she washed off her afternoon and night's sleep and then turned off the shower, unenthusiastic about starting the day. Desiring to feel comfortable for the day, she changed into a pair of jeans and slipped on a black and blue hoodie. She let her damp hair cascade past her shoulders, not bothering to do anything with it and commenced her trek down the treacherous three flights of stairs. With each step she took, a low hiss followed. She was about to give up and just sit herself on a step until somebody passed by her, but she didn't want to seem completely hopeless, so she pushed her way down the stairs despite her aching body. She made her way past the living room when she stopped next to the wall leading into the kitchen as she heard hushed whispers, "......you think it'll work?" she heard Emmett ask.

"I'm positive, Em. It'll go flawlessly," Bella responded. _What would go flawlessly?_ Rosalie pondered. She decided to step into the kitchen at that moment; she had a gut feeling that their conversation was about her.

Emmett stood leaning against the counter with his arms crossed and a mix between determination and a troubled expression on his face. Bella was sitting in a stool next to him as she carelessly picked at her eggs and Edward stood in back of her, with his hands placed over her shoulders, giving them an occasional squeeze every so often. They all glanced up as they heard Rosalie enter. She gave them all a small smile, that didn't quite reach her eyes, and sat herself upon a stool across from Bella, "Morning Rosalie, I made breakfast; you're welcome to serve yourself some," Bella offered to her kindly.

"No thank you, I'm not hungry," she replied, nonchalantly.

All of a sudden, Emmett's fist pounded down onto the counter, "Rosalie, the last time you ate something was yesterday morning. You haven't left your room since we arrived. Eat. Now," he demanded, boring his emerald eyes into her sapphire ones.

"I said I wasn't hungry," she retorted, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Are you trying to starve yourself or something?!" Emmett boomed, throwing his hands up in frustration.

"Why the hell would I do that?" she stubbornly crossed her arms over her chest.

"I don't know, you tell me."

Rosalie stared at him, bewildered at the way he was acting towards her. He's never even raised his voice at her and now he's just full out screaming at her as if he were her father. She winced at the thought of him, and held back the tears that threatened to fall. Hurt, she simply slid off of the stool and exited the kitchen.

"Fuck," Emmett moaned as he repeatedly thumped his head against the counter. He raised his head see that he apparently still had an audience, "Dude, from experience, I think now's your cue to run after her," Edward declared as his chin rested on his wife's head.

Emmett took a deep breath and nodded. He jogged into the living room, to see if Rosalie was there but she unfortunately wasn't. He groaned and ran up the stairs, taking it two steps at a time. He stood in front of Rosalie's closed room, and hesitated before knocking twice on her door. He heard shuffling behind the door as it finally opened, "What?" she asked, her voice shook. Emmett's heart sunk at the sight of her tear streaked face and her puffy red eyes, knowing that it was his fault she got like that.

"Rosie, I'm sorry about before. I shouldn't have reacted like that, I'm just worried about you, you know? I need you to get through this; _I _need to get through this," Emmett mumbled, "We need to get through it all, together."

All that she responded was a simple, 'okay'. Emmett was just about ready to yank all of his hair out. He shut his eyes tight and stood there deliberating on what he should do next. Having a burst of courage, Emmett grabbed Rosalie's hand in his and led them to his room, ignoring her feeble protests to free herself from his grip. He kicked the door shut and ordered her to sit on his bed. She cautiously did as she was told, eyeing Emmett as he rummaged through his massive closet.

"What are you looking for?"

"You'll see in a second," his voice came out muffled from the clothes that were stuffed around his face. Soon after, he stepped away from his closet with a guitar in hand.

"Since when do _you_ play the guitar?" Rosalie asked, perplexed.

Rosalie's inquiry filled the room as he never answered her question. All he did was situate himself cross-legged on the bed, facing her. Emmett took a deep shuddering breath, before starting to strum chords on his guitar. When it was seconds into the music, he looked at Rosalie behind his curly locks with his sparkling green eyes, and she forgot everything. Everything that happened to her. Everything that happened a week ago. Her jaw dropped when he began to sing.

_And there you stand opened heart, opened doors  
full of life with the world that's wanting more.  
But I can see when the lights start to fade,  
the day is done and your smile has gone away.  
_

She gasped from the emotion seeping through his words. She never knew he could write music let alone sing it like an angel. _  
_

_Let me raise you up,  
Let me be your love._

_May I hold you  
as you fall to sleep,  
when the world is closing in  
and you can't breathe.  
May I love you,  
May I be your shield.  
When no one can be found,  
may I lay you down.  
_

He gazed at her with adoration and regret set deep into his eyes. He hated himself for not being there when she was abused by her father and his friends. He hated himself for not being able to protect her, for breaking his promise. He hated himself for letting his little sister die. _  
_

_All I want is to keep you safe from the cold...  
to give you all that your heart needs the most._

_Let me raise you up  
Let me be your love.  
_

She could practically feel his love for her rolling off of him in waves.

_May I hold you  
as you fall to sleep. _

_When the world is closing in  
and you can't breathe,  
may I love you,  
May I be your shield.  
When no one can be found,  
may I lay you down._

Emmett gave this verse his all. Trying to get Rosalie to understand how much he loves her, how much he will protect her from now on, how much he can't live without her. _  
_

_All that's made me  
is all worth trading,  
just to have one moment with you.  
So I will let go  
all that I know,  
knowing that you're here with me._

_For your love is changing me.  
_

Rosalie now had a hand placed over her open mouth, and the tears were freely streaming down her cheeks as she watched Emmett, their eyes never leaving each other's._  
_

_May I hold you  
as you fall to sleep.  
When the world is closing in  
and you can't breathe,  
may I love you,  
May I be your shield,  
when no one can be found  
may I lay you down._

Emmett ended the song with a few more notes on his guitar. He let out a gust of air and placed the guitar on the floor leaning onto the bed. He turned forward again and closed his eyes as he was about to speak, "May I be your shield, Rosie?"

He never got a response, what he got was a body colliding against him, causing him to fall back against his pillow. Rosalie's arms were wrapped in a death grip around his neck as she sobbed into his shirt, "E-Emmett, I-I'm so sorry. I'm sorry for everything! F-for the way I've been acting! This has all just been s-so hard! I don't know what to do anymore, I don't know what to say, how to feel, how to react to things! I-I'm _so_ sorry. I love you so much, Emmett, with all of my heart, I do. Everything is my f-fault," she stuttered out in hysterics.

Emmett's arms tightened around her, not tight enough to hurt her, but enough to feel her there, to feel her safely in his arms, "Stop blaming yourself. You know this wasn't your fault babe, you know it. This was all your _fathers_ fault," he said, barking the word 'father', "I love you, Rosalie Hale. Nothing will _ever_ happen to you again, do you understand me? I will always be here for you, as your love and your protector, you know that, right? You're my angel...fallen from heaven," he whispered the last words into her hair.

Rosalie loosened her grip from around Emmett's neck to look at his face, "Yes, I know now. Thank you," she breathed, he shivered as he felt her wondrous breath glide over his face. She felt his body shudder from underneath her, and couldn't stop herself when her lips crashed against his in a long and passionate kiss. She missed this, he missed this, they yearned for each other. Emmett held Rosalie with one hand gently over her waist and the other cradling her head to his as he gradually deepened the kiss.

Rosalie parted from him slightly, in need of breath. Emmett continued kissing her though. He trailed his lips along her jaw and down her neck, planting sweet kisses wherever his lips could reach. She moaned and grabbed his face fiercely in her hands, ignoring the spring of pain that shot up her plastered arm. She molded her lips around his once more and lightly allowed her tongue to trace over his bottom lip. A low growl rumbled deep in his chest as Rosalie chuckled and placed a hand over his shoulder, pushing him back, "I love the effects I have on you. They're quite satisfying," she giggled, blushing for the first time in a long time.

"And I love this shade of pink. I've missed it these days," Emmett said softly, stroking one of her colored cheeks.

Rosalie sighed and gave him an apologetic look. She carefully slid off of him and cuddled into his side. She draped an arm over his waist as he wrapped an arm around her. They lay there for an immeasurable moment until finally Rosalie's bell like voice broke the silence, "Em, I never knew you could sing and play the guitar!"

He laughed and ran a hand through her hair, "Yeah, I can."

"And you never told me why exactly?"

"Because I wanted to surprise you one day...and that happened to be today."

She smiled into his chest, "That song was beautiful, Emmett. You're amazing."

"It came from my heart, Rosie. For you only," he whispered, placing his lips tenderly to her forehead.

**Song: May I by Trading Yesterday. **

**...So? What did you all think? Please let me know...REVIEW :D hehe.**

**Btw I thought I should let you guys know. I will not be able to update for the next three weeks. *tears* I'm going to Dominican Republic for three weeks, and I'm going to be too distracted to write :/ sorryyys. **

**I'll be sure to give you a really nice long chapter when I get back :) lol.**

**So yeahh....I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thank you! Don't forget to review :P**


	20. when you're starting to drown

**Jasper's POV**

I slammed the door of my Camaro with unnecessary force as I climbed out and headed towards the sidewalk in one of Phoenix's many parks. I sat on the table of the nearest bench, which was hooded by a cluster trees and dying ferns. I gazed out into the nature before me to witness children playing and hopping around like energized jumping beans. How can kids _always_ have so much energy? Don't they ever get tired? The questions that floated around in my head were cut off as my eyes fell upon a family of three. A mother, a father, and a little boy, possibly around the age of five years old. The little ankle biter with bright green eyes was flailing his arms around wildly, as he suddenly plummeted forward, shooting into his fathers awaiting arms.

Pain sliced through every fiber of my being as I remember how Alice and I planned on having a family sometime in the near future, she prayed that our child would have my face but emerald eyes; ones identical to hers. Reflexively, my hand flew up towards my heart and tightened over my love's bracelet, I was never without it. It was _always_ within my reach.

My eyes involuntarily closed as I turned away from the happy family.

"How could you leave me, Ali?" I murmured to myself as my tear brimming eyes drifted off towards the clouded sky. "You were my life. My everything. And you took it all away with you."

I didn't notice until moments later the rain droplets that clouded my vision. I ran a hand over my face to remove the mixed rain and tears. I let out a shaky breath and threw my legs over the seats on the bench. My legs were moving on their own accord; as if they had a mind of their own. They led me towards my treasured vehicle, and in a swift movement I was in the confines of my car, gripping onto the steering wheel tightly until my knuckles were bone white.

Three weeks had passed since I'd lost my reason to live...I shook my head roughly, clearing the thoughts of my Alice away. I shoved the key into the ignition at the same time turning the locks. As I drove down the wet pavement, I could hear the soothing gentle purr of the engine beneath me; I could feel my agitated heart slowly beating down a notch as I relished the tranquility that the Camaro gave me. Unexpectedly and totally out of nowhere, I thought of my best friends. Emmett, Tristan and Edward.

I knew I had to see them sooner or later, but I couldn't build up the courage to actually do so. What would I say to them? It's been tough expressing my feelings lately. I haven't really spoken to anyone since that day.

I sighed, "Don't be such a wuss, Jasper. Go face them, you can do it," I chanted to myself. Maybe the more I said it the more I believed it. And I did, I would go today to visit my extended family. I had to see them and talk to them about everything, especially Emmett. Though I hate to admit it, the idiot's like my brother and we need to work things out. We can't keep this brick wall between us much longer...well I can't.

I sped off towards the massive mansion I used to spend most of my days at. Wincing at the thought of returning, I was so tempted to pop a U-Turn and head back to my house, but no, I can't keep this oblivious void up against everyone I care about.

Pulling into the Cullen's driveway, I took many deep breaths and kept repeating, "Don't freak out and leave. Don't freak out and leave. Don't freak out and leave."

I was unaware of my actions as I stepped up to the front step and knocked on the front door. I was about to forget this and ditch, but the door opened and it was too late.

Edward stood there with a shocked expression but immediately covered it up. I could still see through it, I had always been fairly good at reading people, especially their emotions; I could tell when they would for some reason be lying about how they felt.

"Jasper, man it's great to see you here again. We've missed you, come in," Edward said sincerely.

I gave him a tight smile. Though I truly did miss him, I couldn't make myself really smile these days. "Thanks Edward, I've missed you too."

I stepped over the threshold and as I walked into the front living room, my eyes quickly swept across the area, no body seemed to be in sight. Odd, there was always someone crawling around here.

"Edward," a booming voice called from the stairs. I turned my head and my eyes widened in anxiety. I hadn't planned what I was going to say to him yet. "Can you help me clean out Alice's ro-" Emmett's voice caught in his throat as he reached the foot of the stairs and glanced up to see me standing there. My jaw shut with an audible snap and my eyes narrowed slightly.

"Alice's room? Why are you two going to clean Alice's room? It's not like it's a mess," I said in a surprisingly even voice through clenched teeth.

"Well, we sort of needed to start emptying out her room, and getting rid of some things that aren't really of use anymore." Emmett replied in a dejected voice.

"You should just leave her things there. It's not like it's hurting anybody," I snapped, taking a step closer to Emmett.

Emmett stood his ground, so we were now a couple of feet from each other, "Jazz, what's the problem? We're just going to give some of her clothes to Bella and Rose. Well the ones that fit. And the rest I don't know yet."

"The hell you will. You won't touch her things."

"Jasper, why not? What's wrong?"

Rage coursed through me. My muscles locked, "What's wrong?" I sneered, stalking towards him; I shoved him backwards with as much force as I could. Emmett staggered and almost fell straight onto his ass. "What's wrong! Did you seriously just ask me that?!"

"Dude, what the hell!"

"The hell is that my fiancée is _dead!_ And you're cleaning out her room as if she were merely moving to a new house!" I roared into his face.

"Step the fuck back before I make you. And this is something that needs to be done, Jasper. I've been avoiding it the past couple of weeks, but we can't keep her stuff in there forever."

"Forever?! It's only been three weeks, Emmett!" I yelled in frustration, inching even closer to him. He detested when people got up in his personal space, but I didn't care one bit. He's being completely ridiculous.

"I'm warning you, back off." He glared at me with aggravation set like ice in his green eyes.

"Or what?"

Before I could even blink, Emmett's fist came flying towards my face. I didn't have time to duck, so I took the blow and went flying towards the floor by the force behind it. "Emmett dude!" Edward yelled, crouching down next to me, "Jazz, you alright?"

I didn't answer Edward; I basically ignored him and darted off the ground towards Emmett, head first. I rammed into him and the impact made us both go soaring back onto the floor. Before I could lift myself up to actually hit him, he reacted quicker and flipped me over in a head lock. "Now you listen to me, Jasper Whitlock. You keep acting as if you're the only one that lost someone you love. She was my twin sister, my baby sister, and Edward's too. So if you're going to keep up this attitude, I don't want to see your face here." He reproached from above my head.

Before I could reply, another voice spoke. One I was definitely not expecting.

"What's going on here? Emmett, let go of him!" she shrieked, running down the stairs. Like a dog listening to their masters, he reluctantly obeyed. Whoa, he was whipped, but I wouldn't comment on it.

I straightened up and glanced in Rosalie's direction. A surge of guilt suddenly flooded my body, as I had yet not apologized for my actions weeks ago towards her. "Rosalie, I need to tell you som-"

"The hell you do," Emmett fumed, pulling her halfway behind his body.

"Look, here me out, Em. I'm truly sorry about before. I really don't want to keep fighting with you; I don't know what came over me. I know, Ali was your sister and of course you love her and miss her terribly. But I can't live without her, and I'm just trying to get through this the best way I can, one treacherous day at a time. So sorry man. And Rosalie, please forgive me for what I had said to you before in the hospital." She flinched at the course I was taking with this, but I continued anyway, locking her gaze with mine.

"I was incredibly out of line, and none of this was your fault. It's not your fault that those men hurt you the way they did when you lived with your father. It's not your fault they followed you when you tried to run away. And it's definitely not your fault that one of them actually found you. It's all your mother fucker of a father's fault. Please, forgive me? I am so sorry, you're like a little sister to me now and I wouldn't be able to bear to lose you too," I choked out the last part as I thought of Alice again.

I said those horrible things to Rosalie before in the hospital because I needed to let my anger out. I needed someone to blame besides myself. Because deep down I do have a feeling it was my mistake. I was her fiancée, I should have been there and I should have protected her. But that's still no excuse for the way I reacted back there.

A loud and embarrassing sob rippled through my chest and escaped my lips; I turned away quickly and headed towards the front door. I was about to turn the knob when I felt a warm hand on my other arm. I heaved a sigh and turned on my heel to see Rosalie gazing up at me with tears in her eyes, "Of course I forgive you, Jazz," she cried as she wrapped her arms around my waist in a caring embrace.

"Thank you, Rose. You don't know how badly I've wanted to let you know this...but I just couldn't actually bring myself here without chickening out in the process."

"Well I'm glad you did."

"Me too, little sis. Me too," I chuckled in relief.

We released our hold on each other and faced Emmett and Edward once again. Rosalie made her away towards Emmett and squeezed one of his hands, reassuring him that everything was okay now...well something's are, and other things not so much. "Um Jasper, you want to stay for dinner tonight? We're just going to order a pizza," Edward asked hopefully.

"Um yeah, sure....by the way, where's Bella? I haven't seen her and I thought she would have been down here by now after all the ruckus," I said.

Edward jumped a couple feet in the air, "Oh crap, I forgot!" one second he was there and the next he was gone. I could hear him banging around in the kitchen, and when the banging seized he appeared back in the room with a bowl of soup and a spoon in hand. "Bella has a cold and I forgot to take her the soup she wanted. See you guys in a couple of hours, I'm going to go upstairs and stay with her for a bit." At that, he took the stairs two steps at a time, agilely balancing the soup in one hand without a spill.

"Tell her I say I hope she feels better and that I miss her!"

"Sure sure," his voice echoed towards me over his shoulder through the arch in the stairway.

Emmett, Rosalie and I stood there in an awkward silence for quite a while. Emmett and I both nervously ran a hand through our hair at the exact moment, causing a chuckle from Rose. That broke the ice. "Guys, I'm going to go to rent a movie for tonight, any of you want to accompany me?"

"Not really..." Rosalie replied, peeking up at him shyly as she played with the hem on her long sleeved shirt.

Emmett's face fell considerably when she said she didn't want to go with him. "And you, Jazz?" he asked turning his head away from Rosalie to question me with little hope in his voice.

I scratched the back of my head, "Um, not really...I'd rather stay here to tell you the truth."

His lower lip jutted out in a heartbreaking expression, "Fine, but I'm renting whatever I want. And you guys will have to deal with whatever I bring back," he said with a pout, I closed my eyes and tore my head from his direction. That expression reminded me so much of Alice's when she would beg me to go shopping with her. They looked almost identical at that moment that I flinched at the sudden thought of my beloved. Without thinking, I reached into my jeans pocket and clenched her bracelet in my fist.

Seconds later, I took a deep breath and reopened my eyes, there stood Emmett and Rosalie clearly having a moment. Well at least they didn't notice my slight zone out.

He had one hand pressed to her cheek, his thumb tracing over the scars next to her eye as she held his other hand in both of hers. "Fine then, Rosie. Stay here. I love you," he told her softly.

"I love you too, be back soon. I don't like being apart from you for long."

He chuckled and leaned down to softly peck her on the lips. The second they kissed I turned away and headed towards the couch in front of the TV. I couldn't watch their affection, it killed me inside.

When I heard the front door slam, I let out a gust of air that I didn't realize I was holding. I snatched the remote control off of the stand next to the couch and turned on the TV. I absentmindedly channel surfed until I felt a plop next to me on the couch. I looked over at Rosalie who was gazing back at me with a smile on her face. I couldn't help myself when I raised my left arm and threw it over her shoulder; she easily leaned into my side.

"You know Rose; you're more of a sister to me than my _actual_ sister."

I felt her shaking next to me as she laughed noiselessly. "Oh come on, Jazz. Poor Jen, it's not her fault she wants to spend all of her time with Tristan. She really loves him."

"Yes I understand that, but she never sets some time aside to be with her family anymore, to be with any of us. Of course I love her and if Tristan ever hurts her, I'll have him wishing he never crossed paths with the Whitlock's. But she's slowly drifting away from us all, and I don't think she's really noticing."

Rosalie remained quiet for a few moments, "I'm sure that soon enough, Jennifer will realize what she's doing."

"Yeah let's hope so."

Neither of us spoke after that, we sat there for about half hour watching the last scenes of _Moulin Rouge_ on HBO. Rosalie was already crying when Christian and Satine where singing _Come What May _on stage together. I knew what was coming soon; I'd seen this movie with Alice many times before. This was one of her all time favorites. Damn it I shouldn't have left it on this channel. I should've stuck with _American pie_ on NBC. I closed my eyes and leaned my head against the back of the sofa, attempting and failing to block out the sound emitting from the television.

I heard Christian's broken sobs over his love when she unexpectedly died in his arms after their final performance. It took all of my willpower to not leap up from this couch and run out of the house. I was crumbling, and I couldn't stop myself. I removed my arm from around Rosalie and briskly excused myself to the bathroom.

I dashed towards the bathroom on the first floor, next to the basement, and shut the door. I leaned my body against the door and allowed my head to fall back, thumping against the door strongly. I clutched at my chest fiercely as the tear-filled cries escaped me. "Fuck! How could you fucking to this to me, Ali" I sobbed out noisily, "I miss you so much."

I stumbled towards the sink and leaned with both hands on the counter, looking up at my reflection in the mirror. My shaggy blonde hair falling over my eyes gave me an unnatural ghostly appearance. My cheek bones I noticed were more prominent now; my eyes were surrounded by a dark shadow, as I haven't been getting much sleep, at all.

I looked like a zombie.

I tried to compose myself as my entire frame still trembled from my grief. I raised my shaky hands towards the faucet to splash some water across my face and remove any traces of tears. I couldn't do anything about the red eyes and nose, so I just sighed and opened the door to head back into the living room.

When I reached the room, Emmett had recently arrived. And he stood facing Rosalie who was still seated on the couch. Her face had fear and hate written all over it. But when I averted my eyes back to Emmett, his face held unaccountable fury. His whole body was tight; I could see the muscles straining against his skin. His nostrils flared as his eyes bored into Rosalie's. "Answer me, Rosalie. What's his name?" He asked in a cold voice that had the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end.

Her bottom lip trembled as she fought to hold back the tears, "Anthony Hale."

I stepped forward to join the confusing conversation, "What's going on here? And who's Anthony Hale?"

Rosalie's head whipped around to face me, her blue eyes wide. "My father."

**I'm backk (: my vacation was extremely fun but I'd been dying to write my fanfiction. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Thank you for reading. I really wanted a Jasper's POV :D so there ya go. **

**REVIEW and tell me what you thought of this one, please (:**


	21. there a reason for your endless sorrow?

Emmett slammed the door of his monstrous Jeep, still pouting over the fact that neither Rosalie nor Jasper wanted to accompany him to rent a movie at Blockbuster. He grumbled the entire time as he sped the few minutes it took him to arrive at his destination. He planned on renting a movie that they would definitely hate, but that he would love. _Hmm...Underworld 3: Rise of the Lycans? No, Rosie loves Underworld...YES! High School Musical Senior Year! _Emmett thought as he pulled into one of Blockbuster's parking spaces and gazed at the store window. There was a poster of the cast of HSM leaping into the air with their red cap and gowns and cheesy smiles plastered on each of their faces. "Ha-ha, this is going to be pure torture for them both." He grinned to himself, rubbing his hands together mischievously.

He flung the double doors open and entered the DVD rental store. "Good evening, ma'am," he nodded politely to the elderly lady at the register. _I have been spending way too much time with Eddie. His over-politeness is rubbing off on me _Emmett chuckled to himself.

"Good evening to you too, sir," the woman greeted with a kind smile in return. Emmett couldn't help but grin back at the old lady, she looked so sweet. He had a soft spot for the elderly. With a sigh, Emmett continued on his way towards the wall where they held new releases. His eyes raked over the wall of movies, as he slowly kept trudging forward looking for High School Musical. He barely even noticed when he walked right into a man at his left.

"Oh shit, I'm sorry," he apologized to the man as he caught him by the arm before toppling over.

The man grumbled a 'whatever' in reply as he shook off Emmett's helping hand.

Emmett furrowed his eyebrows, rather pissed that the guy was being so rude to him even after he sincerely apologized for bumping into him. The moment Emmett glanced at his face, he froze. His muscles locked themselves in place and his eyes went wide in shock and mystification. The middle-aged man had Rosalie's eyes. Not gentle and warm like the ocean, but frozen, more like solid ice. That's not the only similarity though, because anyone could have blue eyes. It's just that his had the exact same tiny green specks in them. "The hell is your problem..." the guy mumbled and brusquely banged Emmett's shoulder with his as he passed him to head towards the counter to check out his movie.

Emmett almost toppled over, but held himself upright and quickly shook his head from side to side. _What are the odds, eh? To find someone with the same eyes as my beloved...ah I love calling Rosie my beloved. She's mine, forever...._ He felt his knees weaken at the thought of Rosalie. He suddenly snapped out of the moment, remembering what he was there for. So he quickly found the movie he was searching for on the shelf and walked over to the old lady at the counter.

"Hello dear, will this be all?" she asked him sweetly.

Emmett nodded, "yeah, that'll be all." As he waited for her to scan his blockbuster card he glanced over to the left, where the ungrateful rude man stood, it appeared he was talking to guy that worked there.

".....well Anthony, we're going to have to meet up one of these days. Have like a poker night or something." Emmett heard the worker tell Mr. Rude-Pants. He saw as the man -who was so called Anthony- nod his head stiffly. His face automatically gave him away though; he wanted to desperately get out of there.

Emmett chuckled under his breath and lowered his head. He was about to turn back to keep eavesdropping, but he was interrupted. "Here you go sweetie," the woman said handing Emmett the movie and his change, "have a nice time and be careful on the roads. They're pretty slippery after today's rain."

"Yes ma'am, I will be. Thank you so much and have a nice night," he gave her his signature dimple filled grin and headed out the door towards his Jeep. Emmett had to jog towards his vehicle because it had recently begun to drizzle outside. When he was in the confines of his car he shook his head, getting all the rain diamonds out of his brown curls.

As he sped towards home he thought of that Anthony man in Blockbuster. He thought about how coincidental it was that Rosalie and he had the exact same eyes. Those types of eyes were extraordinarily rare. Green _specks_? Very rare indeed. But Rosalie's were far more beautiful. They were gentle, warm and caring, whilst his were hard, cold and soulless. Emmett's jaw suddenly dropped and he slammed on the breaks without thinking. Thank god that there was no other car on that street behind him. _Oh, FUCK!...No that can't be. He can't be...stop it, Emmett. You're thinking crazy_. Emmett's hands were curled around the steering wheel and as he stared out the windshield with wide eyes, a cold sweat broke across his forehead and his hands began to tremble.

He wasn't really conscious of his movements as he stepped on the gas and headed for home. In moments, he was flying out of his Jeep, not bothering to lock it, and ramming through the front door of his house. "Rosalie," he panted as he saw her seated on the couch watching the end credits of a movie. "I need you to tell me something."

"Emmett, are you alright?" she asked turning her body to face him on the sofa, "and what is it you need me to tell you?"

He took a deep breath, and gazed at her for a moment. His eyes were wild. "What's your father's name?"

Rosalie let out a gasp; she looked taken aback by his question, "W-why do you need to know that?"

"Answer me, Rosalie. What's his name?" Emmett inquired in a voice that would have anyone cowering away from him in fear.

Rosalie bit down on her trembling lower lip, as she fought the tears that threatened to fall, "Anthony Hale."

Jasper stepped into the living room at that moment, completely unexpected, "What's going on here? And who's Anthony Hale?"

"My father." She answered, the tears spilling over her cheeks.

It was silent for a few long moments as her words sunk into the room. Emmett doubled over half way grabbing at his hair in angst, "No no no no," he began quietly, but then continued in a much louder voice. "No no no NO! FUCK HIM! DAMN IT!" he roared ferociously, swiveling around and striking the wall behind him numerous times. By the time Jasper had run over to him to get him away from the wall, his knuckles were covered in blood and had numerous tiny cuts scathed upon the skin.

He began to mumble as Jasper led him to the couch, "....how could I have let him get away? I knew there was something about him...how could I have not realized it..."

Rosalie shifted her body on the couch so she could position herself on Emmett's lap. She grabbed his head between both of her palms, ignoring the shot of pain that sprung up her still braced arm, and stared at him dead in the eye. "Emmett McCarthy Cullen, calm down. Take a deep breath, and tell me what happened." She demanded.

Emmett closed his eyes tight, leaning in on Rosalie as he wrapped his strong arms around her body. He rested his head on the crook of her neck, "I won't let anything else happen to you, Rosie. I swear to you that I won't let him get you." He breathed into the hollow above her collar bone. He ran his lips a few inches higher and to the right so that he could place a kiss on the base of her throat. Rosalie shivered in fright at his words but pleasure from his actions.

"Emmy, what are you talking about? Please, just tell me."

He leaned back against the couch and let out a trembling breath, averting his gaze from her and looking at the wall behind the television. "When I went to Blockbuster, I was obviously searching for a movie and I accidentally bumped into a man. I caught him by the arm of his jacket before he would fall backwards. But he was a complete ass to me even after I apologized. Then I finally looked at his face...a-and I saw your eyes, Rosie." He said, as he brought his eyes back to hers. "But then again they were completely different; his were deadly and evil when yours were angelic and beautiful. Then soon after I heard a man say his name and it was Anthony...I can't believe I didn't realize this when I was back there..."

Rosalie's breathing had become labored and she was clutching at her savior's forearms strongly with her nails. She was shaking her head from side to side as if she were attempting and failing miserably to understand his words. But Jasper spoke up before anyone else could. He stood facing the overlapping holes his best friend created with his fists near the door. He couldn't watch Rosalie and Emmett when they were like that; having been cuddling up to her and placing soft kisses on her skin would have been unbearable for him to watch. "I'll go explain what's happening to Edward and Bella. They'd want to know what's going on," Jasper said through a tight jaw. He bounded up the staircase; with his long legs he was able to take the steps three at a time.

"E-Emmett, don't worry. You won't see him ever again...n-now that you know what he looks like, you can know to avoid him if you ever see him again." Rosalie choked out, placing a hand softly to Emmett's cheek.

His eyes narrowed as he spoke through clenched teeth, "Avoid him? I'm going to find that son of a bitch and murder his ass."

"NO! No, Emmett, you can't. Please, don't go after him. Please, don't even look for where he lives. He'll have you _killed_, somehow! I'm begging you, stay away from him, for me. I-If you loved me, you'd do as I ask. Promise to me that you will not go after him!" Rosalie practically growled at him, inches away from his face.

Emmett was in shock by the sudden change in her voice and flip of her emotions. His eyes tightened when she said the whole, _if you loved me, you'd do as I ask _line. She knew perfectly well how much he loved her though if he didn't promise to not go after him things would definitely get ugly. So Emmett cleared his throat and focused on the spot between her eyebrows, "I promise."

She sighed in relief and fell into Emmett's embrace. He snaked his arms tightly around her waist and crushed her to his chest as she had him straddled and her arms wrapped securely around his neck. She breathed in his heady scent, "I love you," she whispered shakily against the hollow beneath his ear.

"I love you more, babe," he replied firmly, feeling terribly guilty about lying to her.

At that moment descended Jasper, Edward and a horrible looking Bella. They all had frantic expressions on their faces. Edward supported Bella's weight; apparently she was still pretty weak since she was running a fever. She was the one to speak first as Rosalie and Emmett broke apart, "Jazz told us what happened. Are you guys alright? Rosalie, we won't let anything happen to you, we guarantee it. Wait, what is it that we're going to do about this?" Bella croaked out feebly.

"Nothing actually. Emmett promised to not go looking for Anthony, so we are all going to pretend as nothing ever happened, alright?" Rosalie declared.

Everyone stayed quiet and nodded. "Okay then...Bella would you like some green tea? I'm about to go get a bottle for myself, I can give you some of mine cause I know you never drink the whole thing."

"Yeah, thank you." At that the girls headed off towards the kitchen, leaving the three boys fuming in the living room.

Edward looked furious, "Emmett, please tell that you are going to do something about this? Because I, for sure, am not letting this go."

"Of course we are. I just told Rosalie that I wasn't. I hate breaking a promise and lying to her but her safety is way too important to me." Emmett responded in the same tone, now rising from the couch to face Jasper and Edward.

"Alright then, we're going to need a plan to find where he lives, and what we're going to do to him." Jasper said acutely as he crossed his arms tightly over his chest. You could nearly see the wheels turning in his head.

Emmett shrugged, "Oh, I'm killing that bitch."

"I second that," Edward added, dead serious.

Jasper scoffed, "Guys didn't you ever think of what would happen if we ki-" he instantly shut his mouth when he saw Bella and Rosalie exit the kitchen and walking towards them.

"What did we miss?" Rosalie asked in an overly cheery tone, all the while observing Emmett's face.

"Nothing babe...we were about to just watch the movie I rented," Emmett fibbed miraculously.

"Oh okay, and what did you rent?"

Emmett couldn't help it when he began laughing, "High School Musical Senior Year!"

"UGH, EMMETT!" a unison of voices complained.

Emmett playfully glared and Rosalie and then Jasper, "Well, it was sort of your faults. Neither of you wanted to accompany me to rent the movie....well thank god for that now...but whatever, you still knew I would get a movie to piss you both off."

They all grumbled and accommodated themselves comfortably in the living room before turning on the movie. Rosalie stood up from under Emmett's arm and left to go turn off the lights. But before she could arrive, Edward, Jasper and Emmett shared a look, all at the same instance. As if being able to read each other's minds, they all nodded simultaneously, knowing that they would continue the conversation they had begun before, after the movie.

**Finally I finished this chapter! I'm so sleepy, but I wanted to post this one up before I went to bed :) oof, Eddie, Emmett, and Jazz are idiots for wanting to get involved with that psycho ass haha. *sigh* why are men so stubborn? xD**

**Well, I hope you liked this chapter. I don't think it came out good at all; it felt like it was missing something.**

**I'll update soon though si quieres. REVIEW and leave me jur thoughts! :D**

**Thank you**

**Lori**


	22. without me you got it all

It was past midnight and Emmett lay restless on his bed. He couldn't stop worrying about the whole Anthony situation. He knew for a fact that he wanted to kill him, but he just didn't want to face the consequences following. And he definitely didn't want to face Rosalie after. A sudden knock snapped him out of his reverie.

"Emmett?" an angelic voice asked softly at the door. "I can't sleep. You awake?"

"Yeah Rose, come in."

Rosalie stepped in quietly, shutting the door behind her. Emmett barely noticed when she was standing next to his bed. He squinted into the darkness and saw her staring down at her hands and fiddling with her fingers. Emmett threw the covers halfway off of his body and outstretched his arms to her, "Jump in, Rosie." He smiled lovingly at her.

She glanced up at him from her hands and a dazzling smile broke out on her face. "If you insist," she giggled.

Rosalie climbed onto the bed and sunk into his awaiting embrace. Emmett wrapped his arms tightly around her, and rested his head on her hair as she rested her head on his bare shoulder. She turned her head slightly and kissed his neck softly, receiving a moan from him in return. But Rosalie took it the wrong way. "D-do you want me to leave?" she asked in a crestfallen tone.

"No no, of course not, Rosie," he said pulling her even closer to him, "you're just such a tease."

"I'm a tease? How am I a tease?" she asked incredulously.

Emmett turned his head to face her, his lips hovering on her forehead, "you kiss my neck and then stop. That's hardly fair."

Rosalie giggled and shifted her body upwards to be in alignment with his, "Aw I'm sorry, baby," she breathed thoughtfully. He couldn't help it any longer after he felt her wondrous breath fan across face. Emmett crashed his lips against hers as one of his hands flew up to the nape of her neck. He used his other arm to shift her body over his, and press her firmly to his chest. She let her hands trace over his strong biceps and then over his forearms. He kissed her with such passion that it almost made her forget her own name. Rosalie could feel his love for her seeping through the kiss.

Suddenly, he rolled them both over, so he was now positioned over her. Like their first kiss, he held himself up with his arms and lightly traced over her scars with his fingertips as he gazed down at her. "You're beautiful, Rosie. You're the most stunning person in my world. I can't live without you." Rosalie could see the intensity of Emmett's words burning furiously in his emerald green eyes.

She brought both of her hands up to cradle his face in her palms, "When you saved me back in the alley that day, I thought you were my own personal angel fallen from heaven just for me...and I am eternally grateful for that. I can't live without you either, Emmett. You make me feel safe, you make me feel loved, and those are emotions I've rarely ever felt in my life. I love you so much, you know?"

Emmett had a huge grin on is face as he nodded his head like a child being asked if they wanted birthday cake. "And I think you got that a bit backwards, Rose. I'm no angel, you are. You even look like one," he replied cheekily.

"Oh shut up," she said, rolling her eyes and pulling him closer to her. His lips lingered a few inches above hers, but he wouldn't touch them. "Emmy..." she practically whimpered.

"Yes?" he grinned. She ignored his questioning and raised her head slightly to reach his lips, but that just made him back up a few inches.

"Emmett." Rosalie pouted, her lower lip jutting out.

Rosalie could feel a low rumble over her in Emmett's chest as he exploded in laughter. She narrowed her eyes and glared at him, attempting and failing to push him off of her.

"Aw Rosie, don't be that way," Emmett cooed, stroking her reddened cheek, "I was just kidding."

"Well it wasn't nice." Rosalie glowered, averting her eyes from him.

"You wanted me to kiss you? Is that it?" he chuckled. "I'll kiss you then."

Emmett lowered his head slowly above hers and placed his lips gently onto her left cheek, the right cheek following soon after. Rosalie closed her eyes blissfully and he kissed her eyelids as well. She opened her eyes and they were bright with triumph, "you love me," she stated clearly.

"Truly, I do." He whispered honestly, before leaning down and kissing her full on the mouth. She breathed into him as he trailed one of his hands down to her side and squeezed her waist. Rosalie shivered in response and smiled against his lips. "Ah, you're amazing."

He lowered his head even more to nuzzle her neck, "so are you, babe."

"As much as I'd hate this to end, I think we should go to sleep already. Its way passed midnight and I'm beat...especially after all of this." Rosalie let out grudgingly.

Emmett replied with a loud huff and rolled off of her and onto his back beside her. Rosalie stared at him for a few long moments until she chuckled to herself and quickly pecked him on the nose. In one swift movement, she bounded up off the bed and turned towards the door. "Rosie?" Emmett's voice was heartbreaking.

She swiveled on her heel and rushed back to him, "What's wrong, Em?" Rosalie asked softly, hovering over the bed.

His expression was like a lost puppy's, "Why were you leaving?"

Rosalie stared at him as if he were crazy. "Um, I was going to bed, Emmett."

"But you're sleeping here, with me." Emmett's voice was unexpectedly childlike, again. Rosalie just flushed scarlet and slid under the covers. She faced him and he immediately wrapped his arms around her waist as she pressed her hands against his bare abs. She almost drooled at the feel of his striking bare chest against her. Rosalie spoke quietly into the dark room, "Can you sing to me?"

"Sure, what do you want me to sing?" Emmett asked, touching his nose with hers.

"The song you wrote for me the other day. It's beautiful."

Emmett cleared his throat and softly began singing. Soon after, Rosalie fell asleep in her lover's arms, followed shortly by him.

***

Rosalie awoke to the sun beating down behind her eyelids from the window. Expecting to feel a body beside her, she extended her arms across the mattress but all she encountered were sheets and a comforter. She propped herself up onto her forearms and looked around the room. No Emmett. She pouted and reluctantly climbed out of bed and towards his bathroom.

She took a quick hot shower and stepped out of his tub. Her eyes widened as she remembered that her towel was in her bathroom. She couldn't yell for Bella to retrieve it for her because she was still sick with a fever. She groaned and smacked herself on the forehead. "Emmett?!" She yelled for him, hoping he was near and would hear her.

A few minutes later she heard his door open and Emmett reply, "Rosie, did you call me? Are you in here?"

"Yeah, I'm in your bathroom. Listen can you bring me my towel? I kind of forgot about it when I was already in the shower....It's in my room..." she replied nervously, biting her lip.

Emmett's booming laugh calmed her down some, "Of course, Rose. I'll be right back."

She sighed in relief and waited until she heard his door reopen. Emmett knocked on the bathroom door and covered his eyes with his free hand, "My eyes are covered, open up, babe."

Rosalie opened the door hesitantly and when she saw Emmett actually was covering his eyes she snatched the towel out of his left hand and hastily wrapped it around her, "it's safe to look now, Em." She sighed, walking around him and into his room.

Emmett dropped his hand and turned around. When he saw her, his jaw dropped. His eyes raked over every inch of her body that wasn't hidden behind the dark blue towel. It reached directly under her butt. Rosalie caught him ogling and fluttered her eyelashes at him, "it's rude to stare, Emmett."

"U-uh..."

"Em, get a grip on yourself, you're drooling." She laughed in her wind chime voice.

He quickly snapped his mouth shut and then crossed his arms, just staring at her with an unwavering expression. "Rosalie?"

"Yeah?"

He tilted his head sideways and gazed deeply into her eyes, "you look really sexy. Like, incredibly sexy."

Her entire face was beet red as she shuffled her feet anxiously, "T-thanks, Em."

"You're welcome." He flashed Rosalie his knee-weakening grin that showed his adorable dimples.

Her eyes unfocused for a quick minute as she shook her head and turned away, "Um, I'm going to go...change, now." She muttered as she stumbled towards her room.

Emmett stifled a laugh and ran a hand through his chocolate curls. He sighed and headed downstairs hoping that Edward was awake. They had yet to finish their conversation from the previous night.

He bounded down the stairs and headed straight towards the kitchen, finding exactly who he was looking for making himself a bowl of Lucky Charms. "Morning, Eddie!"

"Don't call me that, Em."

Emmett shrugged and walked past him towards the refrigerator, "so I've been thinking a lot about the Anthony situa-" he began, but was interrupted by a deep southern accented voice.

"Before you start, Emmett, I wanted to tell you that I know where he lives. I got his address. Don't ask how, I have my ways," Jasper finished, with satisfaction clear on his face.

"What...really?!" Emmett asked in bewilderment as he began jumping up and down in his place.

Jasper chuckled, "don't get too excited just yet, Em. We still need a plan."

"True," Edward added through a mouthful of cereal. "So, any of you thought of anything yet?"

Jasper and Emmett both shook their heads, clearly disappointed that they hadn't thought up a plan.

"Guys, it's fine. We still have plenty of time. It's not like he's going to move out any time soon...well let's hope not. I want to get this over with as soon as possible, but we need time, patience, and good thinking. We'll talk about this soon though, alright?" Edward stated seriously.

Emmett pounded his fist against the counter, "I just want to get this over with. I don't want him in the same state as Rosalie. I don't want him in the same country, or on the same planet. I want him erased."

"Emmett, understand that this is going to take time. Imagine if you'd just barge into his house without any thought of what you're going to do or even say. Imagine if you would just kill him on the spot, have you thought of the consequences to that? Bella's father is Chief of police here in Phoenix. I don't think he'd be very pleased that his daughter's brother-in-law murdered someone."

"How would he know it was me?"

Edward rolled his eyes at Emmett's oblivion, "evidence, Em, evidence. There are always clues."

"What if I'm careful?"

"Dude, just stop. I want to get this guy as much as you do. We'll discuss this later; I don't want to get into this now, okay?"

Emmett nodded, "yeah, whatever." Jasper and Emmett remained quiet as they hunted for food in cabinets and the refrigerator. Emmett found a can of Chicken noodle soup and poured it in a bowl. He mixed it for a while and then placed it in the microwave. Jasper on the other hand, was eating cereal along side Edward.

"Emmett, who in their right mind would eat soup for breakfast?" Jasper asked as he played with the marshmallow's in his bowl.

"I eat anything at any time, and you know it."

All of a sudden, a whiff of smoke surrounded the three and they turned around wildly, glancing around the kitchen for its source. At that moment Rosalie appeared and ran directly to the microwave. She flung the door open and grabbed the bowl of soup out, flinging it into the sink. "Who the hell left an _aluminum_ spoon in the bowl and then put it in the microwave?!" she half-yelled as she lifted the spoon out of the bowl with her nails and glaring at the men before her.

Edward and Jasper immediately raised their arms up in the air and backed up a few steps, leaving Emmett to feel Rosalie's wrath. She turned to him as he cringed away in fear. "Emmett, _darling_, why would you do something so incredibly stupid?"

"I-I-I didn't really know that you couldn't put metal in the m-microwave," he replied in an octave higher as he leaned away from Rosalie in fright.

Her face held amusement and then utter irritation, "Emmett McCarthy, may I ask why you're leaning away from me with an idiotic expression on your face?"

"B-because I'm scared of you," he squeaked.

Rosalie dropped the spoon in the sink and a glorious smile randomly broke across her face, "you should be, my dear." She stepped towards Emmett and got on the tips of her toes to give him a chaste kiss on the cheek and then sauntered out of the kitchen.

As soon as she was out of sight, Jasper and Edward were on the floor roaring in hysterics. "You.....and....ha-ha I'm...scared!...You squeaked! ha-ha!" Edward choked out between laughs. Emmett just stood there in complete shock.

Jasper finally stood up with tears in his eyes, "Emmett, you okay?"

"I-I don't think so...my girlfriend's kind of scary now...I've never noticed before," he said with wide eyes.

"Dude, chill out. She was joking."

Emmett ran his hands through his hair roughly and shook his head. "Yeah, I know...now give me some cereal. I'm starving."

As Emmett and Jasper ate, after washing Emmett's soup bowl, Edward grabbed the exploded microwave and spoon and threw them in the garbage can in the front yard. "Guys, we need to replace that you know. With Bella being sick and all, we don't really have anyone to cook. So, we _need_ a microwave...or we can just order take out for a while?"

Jasper and Emmett glanced at Edward and then at each other, "take out," they replied simultaneously.

***

Rosalie was seated on her bed leaning against the headboard with a book propped up against her legs. Three soft wraps on the door caught her attention, "come in!"

Emmett poked his head in and pouted, "Hey, Rosie, can you use some company? I'm really bored."

"Of course, Emmett, you know I always love having you around."

Emmett grinned down at her and made his way towards her bed, plopping himself down beside her. Rubbing his temples, he closed his eyes and let his head fall back against the headboard. "What's wrong, Em?"

He shrugged and opened his eyes to look at Rosalie, "headache."

"Did you drink something for it?"

"Yeah, it's gotten better, don't worry about it, Rosie," he smiled lightly. "So, what're you reading?"

"A book Bella leant me," she beamed enthusiastically.

"Of course," Emmett chuckled. "Well I'll just take a nap as you read. It might make the headache go away."

"Okay babe."

He didn't fall asleep though. He lay cuddled up to Rosalie as she read, thinking about the things he wanted to do to Anthony Hale. He wanted that man dead. Emmett knew that if he just acted on instinct he'd somehow end up in the slammer. Rosalie and the family wouldn't be so cool about that, especially Carlisle.

But he knew that Edward, Jasper and him would figure out a way to see her father. To at least threaten him so bad he'd want to commit suicide. Maybe that was a stretch, but Rosalie's worth anything. Emmett closed his eyes tighter not wanting to think such foul thoughts as he lay with Rosalie, thinking that maybe she'd know of his plans somehow.

Emmett pressed his head between the sheets and Rosalie's arm, ridding his thoughts of Anthony and filling them with beautiful ones of Rosalie.

**I hope you liked this chapter! I sure didn't, it thought it was totally awful, but I at least added something important, that the guys will start their planning on Anthony eventually :) hehehe.**

**And there was fluff! I really love fluff; it's been in need of some more Emmett/Rose cuteness c: Emmett's so sexy hehe.**

**Btw, school's starting again tomorrow. FML -__- and my updates will start to get a bit slower most probably because I have to focus on school stuff too. I'm sorry :( But I will never leave this story hanging without ever updating again, so it's all good x)**

**Even though I was disappointed, I hope ju all weren't. Thank yous! REVIEW PLEASE!!!!**

**Lori**


	23. when they try to take us down

It was late afternoon and the boys where out in the backyard flinging a football around in a triangular formation. After Emmett's long, but stress free nap, he was itching to do something active.

The football rammed against the center of Edward's open palm from his brother's flawless spiral, "but what if something goes wrong?" Edward questioned apprehensively towards Jasper and Emmett.

"Nothing will go wrong if we make a well thought out plan, and stick to every step." Jasper stated, catching the ball before it collided adjacent to his chest.

"Jazz is right. If all goes well, Rosalie's vile father will be dead." Emmett seethed angrily whilst catching Jasper's throw. Emmett clenched the ball in a tight fist, not realizing his actions until a low hiss began to escape the ball in his hand. He immediately let the deflated football drop to his feet as he stood there gazing at it apologetically.

He looked up and saw Edward and Jasper looking back at him with despairing puppy dog eyes. "Em, you killed it!" Edward whined loudly, falling to his knees in front of the ball.

Emmett rolled his eyes, "I killed nothing, Eddie. My anger killed it. And get over it; I'll buy you another one."

Edward rose to his feet and glared at Emmett, "fine."

"Since when have you ever even liked football the way I do?"

"I'm not sure. After watching a couple of games on ESPN, I'm starting to really enjoy it. But it's sort of clashing with my musician side, because being a pianist and throwing footballs don't really mesh all that well together. Imagine if I were to jam up a finger playing this, then I would be incapable of playing my piano for a while. And that's not cool with me. Oh, just like how a ballerina and a gangster would nev-"

"Alright, I get it. Shut up already, you lost me after 'I'm not sure'" Emmett broke him off while throwing his hands up in the air dramatically.

Jasper stood watching them, clearly exasperated, with his hands on his hips like a temperamental woman. "Damn it, you two get distracted really easy. Remember what we were talking about? We needed to plan something out for Anthony? And Emmett, you will NOT kill him. I repeat, will NOT." Jasper ordered him quite loudly as he jabbed a finger at him like a scolding parent. "It may be a good thing if he was dead, but it definitely will not be a good thing if you ended up in jail for something so incredibly stupid."

Emmett's eyes narrowed intuitively, "stupid? So you think getting rid of the man that caused Rosalie so much pain in the past is _stupid_?"

"Not stupid obviously, because you know I want him gone too. But when we actually go to him, we need to be smart about it, and follow every step carefully."

Emmett was shaking his head at Jasper incredulously, "hold up. What do you mean 'when _we _actually go to him'? You guy's are not coming with me when I face him. I don't want either of you in yards distance from him. I just needed you guys to help me think of a way to get to him. I'm going by myself."

"Fuck no, Emmett McCarthy. Though you still appear older than me, you're my little brother. And there is no way in hell that I'm allowing you to go by yourself. You need us there. What, so you thought that Jazz and I were just going to sit here thinking about pregnant birdies as you went out to face a fucking monster? I think not." Edward said heatedly.

"Who said anything about pregnant birds?"

Edward scowled at his brother, "It's a metaphor, Emmett. And stop trying to change the subject. The point is that you're not going alone. I'm coming with you whether you like it or not."

"Yes and so am I." Jasper added.

Emmett groaned loudly and ran his hands furiously through his curly locks. He began to pace back and forth, from the sliding glass door, to the far side of the fence across the yard. He did this for what seemed like hours but was only a few tedious minutes. He would randomly mumble something incoherently which would aggravate Jasper and Edward even further.

"Okay, dude what gives?" Edward blurted out when he couldn't take the silence any longer.

"Shut up, I'm thinking." Emmett replied curtly, still pacing and with a fist firmly positioned against his lips.

Edward flailed his arms up and down, "about what?! Let us help. And stop pacing, it's driving me insane."

Emmett ignored him for a few more minutes but then immediately halted in his tracks. Gradually making eye contact with both Jasper and Edward, a mischievous grin crept onto his face and a spark of hope ignited in his eyes. "I just thought of the perfect plan."

***

Rosalie was lounging around in Bella's room on the long black sofa recliner next to the wall. She had her legs stretched out in front of her and her back leaning up against the arm rest. Her eyes were sucked into the book from previous hours before, _Mrs. Mike_ by Benedict and Nancy Freedman. She heard a low grumble followed by a cough surround her air. Her head snapped up from the book and landed directly on Bella, who was cuddled into the sheets on her king sized bed. Rosalie instantly placed the book down at her feet, and clambered off of the sofa towards her best friend.

Rosalie kneeled by Bella's bedside, "Bella, are you okay? Do you need me to get you anything? Edward maybe?"

"N-no, I'm alright." Bella responded weakly, propping herself up onto her forearms. "Let me just get out of this bed. I need some fresh air. I feel like I'm suffocating in here."

The sheets slid off of the bed soundlessly as Bella clumsily stood from the bed. Rosalie took a few steps back but stayed in arms reach of Bella in case her legs gave out. "Rose, chill out. I'm feeling better; I think my fever already broke. Now, let me go to the bathroom in peace please."

"Whatever you say, Bells." Rosalie sighed, waiting for her by the room door.

As soon as Bella finished up in the bathroom and brushed her teeth after her whole day's nap, Rosalie and her tentatively made their way downstairs. They reached the bottom step and Bella immediately began to scope the house. She entered every room, except the kitchen, and lastly headed towards the backyard. With difficulty, she opened the sliding glass door, enough to fit her body through, and stepped out with Rosalie at her tail. The boys' heads whipped around towards them. All three pairs of eyes held a sign of apprehension.

When Edward saw Bella standing there, with her shoulders slightly hunched and arms crossed over her chest, his mood automatically shifted and he was instantly by her side, in apparent concern.

"Bella love, what're you doing out of bed?! I told you if you needed me to call my phone or bang on something loudly from upstairs!" Edward's voice was laced with worry as he snaked an arm firmly around his wife to support most of her weight.

"I'm so bored up there and my fever's almost already gone!" she reproached, snatching his free hand to place it over her still warm forehead.

Edward's eyes tightened for the least bit, "hmm. Alright then you can stay downstairs with us. But inside the house, not out in this chilled weather."

"But aren't you boys going to be outside?"

"I won't be if you're not." Edward said softly, placing a loving peck on her cheek.

Rosalie watched them with an idiotic grin plastered onto her face. She sighed and averted her eyes from the married couple, focusing on her personally made shield. On her breathing safe harbor. On her love.

She sighed and skipped to his side, wrapping her hand securely amid his and allowing their intertwined hands to fall between them. Emmett glanced down at their hands and then looked up at Rosalie, locking his gaze with hers. He flashed her a knee-weakening smile and felt the pools of adoration pooling in his emerald eyes. "Rosie, you want to go inside with Eddie and Bells?"

"Sure." She answered; still beaming up at her adorable teddy bear of a man.

Emmett didn't respond. He just followed behind Edward and Bella who where already inside and most probably hogging up the loveseat. Emmett stepped into the house but then right away swiveled on his heel and poked his outside through the door's opening. "Yo, Jazz, you coming?" he asked Jasper who was poking around the football with a dazed gleam in his eyes. He dropped the dead ball and quickly nodded his head, following behind Rosalie and Emmett.

They where all plopped down on the couch, besides Bella and Edward who where snuggled on the loveseat. Rosalie sat with her legs crossed and pressed tight to Emmett's side while Jasper sat at the other end of the sofa looking as awkward as can be.

"So," he began, thinking of conversation to start. "That microwave, huh?"

Emmett shot him a death glare and shook his head from side to side furiously. But Bella caught it nonetheless.

"What happened to the microwave?" she asked, her eyes narrowing between Jasper and Emmett.

Edward sighed, "Well love, Emmett kind of left a metal spoon in a bowl when he turned it on...so yeah, I'm guessing you know how that ended."

"You _blew up_ the microwave?!" Bella shrieked, half jumping off of Edward but failing since his arms instinctively tightened around her waist.

Emmett cringed into Rosalie. Bella's wrath was as close to how Alice's was. So everyone knew to never get the women of the house angry.

"It was an accident, Bells. I'm sorry," Emmett whimpered pathetically into Rosalie's hair.

Rosalie chuckled lightly and patted her lover's head sympathetically, "its okay, Em. And Bella, don't worry. I already yelled at him for blowing it up this morning."

Bella shrugged, "Oh alright then. You're safe, Emmy. No need to cower into your girlfriend."

Soon after, Emmett peeked behind Rosalie's head and instantly relaxed, seeing that Bella had her eyes closed and her head resting on Edward's chest. _Jazz, that little fucker_ Emmett grinned mentally. Unexpectedly, he leaned forward grabbing the remote control off of the coffee table and with a flick of his wrist, hurled it at Japer's head.

"OW! What the fuck, Emmett! Damn it, that hurt!" Jasper wailed loudly, massaging the side of his head roughly with his palm.

"You should know by know to never mess with Emmett McCarthy Cullen."

Laughter filled the room at this boisterous remark. "Jeez, Em, you swear you're the shit."

Edward said, rolling his eyes at him.

"I don't swear that I am. I _am_ the shit." He stated playfully grinning down at Rosalie and wiggling his eyebrows.

Suddenly, a sweet voice no one was expecting scolded them from the door. "Edward, Emmett! Language!"

Al of their heads whipped towards the front door. Stepping over the threshold, one after the other, was a group of people that none of them were expecting to see. Esme, Carlisle, Charlie, Tristan and Jennifer.

"What're you guys doing here?!" Emmett asked leaping off of the couch to greet everyone.

Esme embraced her youngest son in a warm hug, "well, your father, Charlie and I where going to pop in for a while and eat dinner with our kids because we hadn't seen you all in such a long time."

"And then we ran into Tristan and Jennifer in the driveway...apparently they where here for the exact same reason." Charlie added, glancing at his daughter. "Oh, Bells! I talked to Edward the other day and he told me you had a cold. Are you feeling any better?"

Bella rose from her seat with Edward trailing right behind her. "Yes dad. I'm feeling much better, thanks. I have great people taking care of me here." She beamed, hugging her dad around the waist tightly.

Rosalie and Jasper approached the joyous group hesitantly, not sure of what to say or who to acknowledge first. Thankfully, they were approached instead. Carlisle stepped in front of Rosalie and smiled warmly at her, "hello Rose, how's the arm?" he asked, planting a fatherly kiss on her cheek and trailing his eyes down to scrutinize her plastered arm warily.

"Its fine, Dr. Cullen. I think it's almost time to get the cast removed, don't you think?" she asked, raising her eyebrows hopefully.

He chuckled, "how many times do I need to tell you? Please, call me Carlisle. You're family to us, dear...and I think in about a week or so I'll swing by and have it removed."

Rosalie rolled her eyes and waved him off humorously, "fine then, _Carlisle_."

He chuckled and turned away from Rosalie, to look at Jasper. "How're you doing, son?" he asked, placing a hand over Jasper's shoulder thoughtfully.

"I've been better, Carlisle. I've been better." He sighed, running a hand through his blonde hair.

As Carlisle was about to respond, a high soprano voice cut him off, "JAZZ! I've missed you so much!"

Jennifer pushed passed everyone and flew into her shocked brother's arms. He sighed and squeezed her tightly, "I've missed you too, Jen. More than you know," he whispered sadly into her ear. She removed her arms from around his neck to look at his face.

"I'm sorry..."

Jasper tilted his head to the side in confusion, "for what?"

"Not being there for my brother when he needed me most. Not being with my family more." She replied miserably.

Jasper smiled down at her and ruffled her hair, "It's okay, and we all mess up some time in our lives. But we still love you...and your annoyance."

She smacked his chest lightheartedly and turned away to greet the rest of the family. After everyone caught each other up on their lives, Esme, Rosalie, Jennifer and Bella headed towards the kitchen to prepare a homemade dinner for that night. And Carlisle, Charlie, Emmett, Edward, Tristan and Jasper lounged around the living room.

As soon as all the boys where seated, Emmett ran his hands anxiously through his hair and glanced at both Edward and Jasper.

After the two nodded at him in approval, he began.

***

"Boys, I know how much you want to get this guy, because believe me, I want him gone too, but this is incredibly dangerous for you three. Well four now, since I doubt Tristan's going to miss out on this." Carlisle said, shaking his head worriedly.

"You got that right. I'm all in," Tristan declared, bumping fists with Edward.

"Listen, dad. We'll be careful, I promise. And we're going to have Chief Swan nearby anyway...aren't we?" Emmett asked Charlie hopefully.

Charlie ran a hand over the stubble growing on his face, "I am very impressed with the way you guys have thought this through. But if I agree to this, I'm going to need to go down to the station and talk to the other officer's about this...because there is no way in hell that I would allow something like this to ensue without back up."

"Yes, Charlie, that'd be great...the more support we have the better." Edward responded, clearly animated by the discussion.

Charlie let out a gust of air, "and you four will be needing the right form of protection, his address, recording devices and-"

"Address, done." Jasper added, waving a little paper around with the tips of his fingers.

Carlisle and Charlie raised their eyebrows at him impressively. "How'd you manage to snag that?"

He shrugged, "I have my ways."

"And I don't want to know what your ways were. Especially if they're illegal ways." Charlie stated seriously.

Jasper chuckled and stuffed the paper back into his rear pocket.

"Alright, you have heard our plan. Now, do you think it'll work?" Emmett asked intensely.

"It should. It's precise and very well planned out. Look, I'll call you tomorrow and let you know what the guys down at the station say about this. Agreed?" Charlie said staring directly at Emmett.

"Agreed." Emmett replied in a hard voice followed by a swift nod.

The rest of time as the meal was being cooked, the boys sprawled around the living room making small talk and typically relaxing. Most of the time they were all lost deeply in their thoughts, all mulling over the situation with Anthony Hale. Emmett prayed that it will all turn out how he'd planned. So that his frenzied thoughts could be put to a rest and so he could finally keep his Rosalie safe, forever.

**Book: Mrs. Mike by Benedict and Nancy Freedman. It's cute ^.^**

**Finally updated this chapter! Sorry for the long wait, blame school haha xD**

**Well, as you can see Emmett thought up a plan!**

**But what exactly IS the plan?? Wahaha keep reading to find out. **

**IF you review then I'll update. No reviews, then no update. I'm mean, I know lmao xD**

**So, REVIEW PLEASE! I hope you enjoyed this chapterr! **

**Thank you**

**Lori**


	24. take my hand, take me down

Today was the day. The day Emmett would defeat Anthony Hale.

"Guys, please, for my sake, don't come along. I can't risk my family." Emmett begged, plopping down onto the edge of his bed.

Edward ran a hand across the nape of his neck anxiously, all the while glaring at Emmett. "Get over it. We're coming along. I'd prefer Jazz and Tristan to stay here as well, but that's not going to happen...hell, I wish _you_ would stay here, but no. So, if you're going, we're going, end of story."

Emmett fell back against his sheets with a loud groan. "You guys really suck."

"Shut up, you know you love us, Emmy." Tristan laughed through a mouthful of chips. Tristan's humorous remark hung in the air as Edward and Jasper taped on mini recording devices onto their chests, under their layered T-shirt and jacket.

After the boys finished getting ready, they grabbed Rosalie's father's address off of the dresser and silently prayed to flee the house unnoticed by Rosalie and Bella. They tiptoed down the three flights of stairs but a sweet voice halted them in their tracks.

"Where are you guys going?" Rosalie's voice rang throughout the empty front room.

Emmett gulped, pivoting on his heel to face her. "Just...out."

"Out where?"

"....uh-hh." Emmett fumbled, whilst raking a shaky hand through his thick hair.

"Out to...eat?" Edward saved, his statement nearly sounded like a question. He was like his brother, both of their voices rose a few octaves when they where nervous, or in this case, when they were being dishonest.

Rosalie's face instantly brightened, oblivious of their awkwardness, "Oh! Well can I come? I can go ask Bella too, if you want?"

"We where kind of going as just us guys, babe..." Emmett's stomach flipped uncomfortably as the lies sustained.

"Oh. All right then." Her face fell as quickly as it had brightened before.

"I'm sorry, Rosie. We just wanted to go out just us men. We're in need of a bar and some guy time." Emmett's expression screamed guilt. He despised being untruthful to her, but it was necessary. It was her past life he was dealing with here.

Rosalie sighed, "Kay, you boys go and have your fun. Don't be back late," she took three steps forward and tugged at the front of Emmett's navy hoodie, pulling him down to her level, and placing a small peck on his lips, "and also, remember to please drive safe."

She leaned away from him and released her grip on his jacket, but a wave of unease washed through him as she backed away from him. His eyes held worry and he instinctively wove his hand throughout the back of her hair and pulled her face back to his. He captures her lips in a long and passionate kiss. A kiss that felt to him as one of farewell. One that'll make him regret ever leaving the house to begin with. She moaned embarrassingly into his mouth and he reluctantly, and much too soon, removed his mouth from hers. "I love you, Rosalie Lillian...so much." He alleged against her parted lips.

She cupped her small palm around his cheek, and stared up into his slightly dazed emerald eyes. "What's bothering you?"

He sighed, "Nothing. I just wanted you to know that."

"But I already did know that," she giggled, though she had a line of worry set between her eyebrows.

"It feels nice to just say it every once in a while."

She smiled softly at him, "and I love you, Emmett. With all of my heart."

They smiled at each other and finally where interrupted by Tristan. "As much as I hate to break up this adorably sappy moment, the rest of us are kind of hungry...so Emmett, if you don't mind."

Emmett nodded in response and turned away from Rosalie, heading towards the door, "see you soon, babe." She smiled at his words and locked the door as he shut it on their way out.

Jasper and Tristan rode in the Camaro as Emmett and Edward drove in the Jeep. Emmett pondered over the things he wishes he could do to Anthony. The things he _will_ do to him. Jasper can try and persuade him to do the "right thing" all he wants, but nothing will stop Emmett. That motherfucker hurt his Rosalie, and there is no way in hell that he's getting away with such a thing. Emmett's grip on the steering wheel instinctively tightened, resulting in his knuckles to turn ghostly pale. His foot gradually pressed down harder on the accelerator, reaching one hundred and seventy five miles per hour. Edward shifted beside him uncomfortably in the passenger seat, "Em, you mind slowing down a little?"

Emmett's gaze broke away to glance at Edward as he slowly eased his foot off of the pedal. "Sorry, I was just thinking."

"Yeah, no worries. So was I, I hope we do everything right and it all goes how we've been planning."

"I really hope so to," Emmett sighed with a shake of his head.

Silence crept into the confines of the Jeep once again as Emmett followed the Camaro's sudden lefts and rights until they reached a stocky looking neighborhood. It wasn't exactly trashy, but it wasn't well cared for. Weeds where sprouting out from every lawn, and a few of the houses where practically falling apart...literally.

Emmett eased his foot off of the gas as he saw Jasper park his car in front of a light pale yellow, one story house. Emmett swiftly turned off his Jeep whilst unwrapping himself from his seatbelt. "You ready, man?"

Emmett gave Edward a sharp nod and replied in his booming voice, "I've never been more ready."

The brothers climbed out of the silver Jeep and glanced behind them just to see the S.W.A.T car parked a few blocks down. Charlie and a few other officer's sat impatiently in the rear of the massive black Suburban, just waiting for the right moment when Anthony Hale said anything to give him away as an abusive father...hence, Jasper and Edward wearing the recording devices underneath their garments.

Emmett and Edward fell into stride beside Jasper and Tristan who where already heading up the driveway towards the house. Being the protective man that he is, Emmett made sure to walk slightly ahead of the others. He took a deep breath as he reached the front door and banged his hand against it.

The chipped painted door swung open a few minutes later, revealing a man with sandy blonde hair and Rosalie's eyes. But again, his eyes where frozen ice. Not like Rosalie's, not like the gentle swell of waves in the ocean. He gazed at Emmett with confusion written all over his face, then glancing minutely at the other three boys and back at Emmett. "Blockbuster kid? What do you want?" He asked Emmett quite crudely.

As furious as Emmett was standing inches away from Anthony Hale, his face looked completely serene and calm, "may we come in? I think we have something to discuss."

"I don't have anything to discuss with you. I don't even know you." He stated with a shake of his head, "and who are these other people?"

"Not to be rude but that's none of your concern." Emmett replied, the calm still lacing around his words, "we just needed to talk to you about something is all."

"I better know who they are if they're going to be stepping into my house."

Emmett's thoughts where racing. He didn't want to tell him his brother and friends' names. He wasn't going to reveal any information about them, even if it was just their names. "I can tell you my name. I'm Emmett McCarthy. And I just have a proposition to make."

The gruff man rubbed the back of his head fretfully, "alright. But whatever you're selling better be good."

_Ha-ha the idiot thinks we're selling him something. Perfect. _Emmett thought, grinning wildly.

Anthony stepped out of the way and allowed the boys to step into his house, slamming the door shut behind them. They followed him into the messy living room and stopped at its entrance, it was filthy and filled with garbage. His entire home was a giant trashcan. "Okay," he said, reeling around to face them, "what is that you want? Or selling?"

Emmett and the others allowed their tranquil facade drop instantly. Anthony was now faced with murderous glares. "Well," Emmett began in a surprisingly cool voice, making him seem all the more terrifying, "we're here for a friend. And this friend of ours wants vengeance. You see, they didn't exactly say against whom, but we're pretty sure it was you, Anthony Hale."

"What the fuck are you talking about? Who the fuck are you talking about? And how do you know my name?" Anthony snapped, his neck turning a vicious shade of purple.

Emmett slowly stalked up to Anthony and glared directly into his eyes. Now only inches away, he responded. "I _think _you have a pretty good idea of who I'm talking about. Let's see, hmm does this name ring any bells, Rosalie. Lillian. Hale." Emmett seethed at him, passion and fury meshing together as he pronounced each part of Rosalie's name individually.

Anthony stepped back as if he'd received a slap in the face. "Rosalie...my daughter? You've seen her? Tell her she needs to come back home immediately. I mi-"

"-shut the fuck up!" Emmett roared, pulling his arm back quickly and connecting his fist with the front of Anthony's face. A loud wail escaped his lips as the blood rained heavily from his now broken nose.

"What the hell?!" he nearly cried, leaping to his feet and stepping up to meet Emmett's height. Emmett's nostrils flared as Anthony's chest nearly touched his.

"What the hell?' You're seriously asking me that?" Emmett's voice was at a deadly low.

Suddenly and completely out on whim, his hand flew up to Anthony's neck and rammed his body up against the wall behind him. Emmett's grip on him tightened as he gradually slid him up the wall and off of his feet with just one hand. Most of the force was under his fingertips, allowing Anthony's airways to remain free.

"Now, is there something that you would like to tell me?" Emmett fumed. He could feel the millions of veins pulsing beneath his pale skin.

Anthony's face was slowly turning red, "no."

"Wrong answer." Emmett's left fist went flying forward and sunk into Anthony's abdomen. "How about now?"

"Even less," Anthony huffed out, challenging him. Rage coursed throughout Emmett's body as a feral growl bubbled up within his chest. His rage was getting the better of him...he shooed his frazzled thoughts away instantly and returned to focus on the matter at hand. In that moment of distraction, one of Anthony's fists went zooming up towards Emmett's face. It connected with his jaw resulting in him to release his tense hold on Rosalie's fathers' neck and drop him in a heap to the ground.

Anthony scrambled up to his feet and bolted out of the room and into another. As he was shutting the door a foot jammed between the door and its frame. The body shoved against the door causing Anthony to fall back against the tile. Edward stood there with Jasper at his heels. They where in the kitchen, surrounded by even more trash and plates. "That was a big mistake you did over there. Punching Emmett? Not a smart move."

Emmett appeared in the door way then, towering over everyone with Tristan. He stepped around them all and knelt down grabbing Anthony fiercely by the arm and dragging him up to his feet. His fist whisked up and connected with the dried blood on his face. Anthony staggered back against the counter but quickly regained composure by tumbling forward and plunging into Emmett's torso with his shoulders, knocking them both down. Anthony had him pinned to the ground with arms whipping around, hitting Emmett wherever he could reach. With a loud groan, Emmett flipped them over violently so he was now situated over Anthony. Instinctively, his fist repeatedly kept blowing at his face. Emmett was giving him a taste of his own medicine.

He then stopped as he grabbed Anthony by the front of his shirt with both hands.

"I'm going to ask you this again nicely, is there something that you would like to tell me?" Emmett panted.

Anthony groaned in response.

Emmett shook him fiercely, "ANSWER ME!"

"What do you want me to say?" Anthony nearly whimpered in obvious agony. "I'll do anything, just...stop."

Emmett went stiff for a moment. He didn't think Anthony would give in so quickly and confess. He thought he would've put up more of a fight. "Then tell me, Hale. Tell me _everything_ you did to Rosalie, and I'll let you live."

Anthony's frozen eyes shot open and they gazed up at Emmett's dark green ones, they where raging. "You want to know what I did to that little _bitch_? It was her fucking fault that Charlotte died...I know it was! Who else's fault could it have been? So I gave her exactly what she deserved. I fucking beat that girl till she bled on this floor and cried her little eyes out. I watched as she looked at me in pain and confusion." He paused momentarily, smug as he gazed up at a trembling and enraged Emmett. "I had my two friends come over and do things to her...let's just say that those things weren't quite good. She begged for them to stop, she _begged_ them and all they did was laugh. I couldn't blame them, it was humorous the way she begged them as she crie-"

An abrupt bang interrupted Anthony mid sentence. Chief Swan strode in with two other officers at his flank. At the sight before him, Anthony thrashed around wildly under Emmett's taut body as Charlie neared them. "Anthony Hale, you are under arrest for continuous assault on your daughter, Rosalie Hale."

Emmett loosened his grip on Anthony and leapt up to his feet, joining Edward's side by the door. They watched as Charlie heaved Anthony's vile body off of the ground and whipped his hands behind his back, snapping the handcuffs onto his wrists. Anthony glowered darkly at Emmett and reluctantly turned around to be escorted towards the S.W.A.T cars with the two other officers. Charlie remained in place, staring at Emmett in admiration. "You all did a great job, thank you."

"No Chief Swan, thank _you_." Emmett replied sincerely, shaking his hand firmly.

Charlie tilted his head as if in deep thought, "Say, Emmett, have you ever considered joining us?"

"Joining you where?"

"At the station, you know be an officer?" Charlie elaborated.

Emmett let out a soulless chuckle, "well Chief Swan, you'll be the first to know if I ever do decide that I want to join."

"That's great. It'd be really great to have you there." Charlie gave him a kind smile, "so, again, great job boys. I'll be heading back now, have a nice day. Go on and get home."

At that, Chief Swan exited Anthony Hale's house.

Jasper was the first to speak among them, "Em, you did fine. It's over, he's going to jail."

Emmett let out a sigh of relief and sunk down to his knees. He let his head fall down until his chin reached his chest. "You don't know how glad I am to hear those words."

"Yeah, us too. Now come on, get up. Let's go home." Edward said, giving his brother a light smack on the back.

***

The boys where now arriving home and climbing out of their cars, but Jasper and Tristan remained in the Camaro with the engine running.

"Hey guys! I'm going over to Jens' with Tristan. Tell Bella and Rose we say hi" Jasper yelled out of the driver's side window. "See ya'll later."

Then he peeled out of the driveway. Leaving tire marks in his tracks.

Edward took a deep breath and glanced over at Emmett as he unlocked the house door. "You ready to face Rosalie? You're going to have to tell everything since you have a bruise the size of a golf ball on the side of your jaw...and it's the right thing to do, Em."

Emmett ran a hand through his chocolate curls "Yes, I know. But to tell you the truth, I'm scared shitless."

**DONE! Well with this chapter c: the story is soon to be ending :) I had the song Without You by Breaking Benjamin on repeat as I wrote this. So thank you Breaking Benjamin :P**

**And guys, I am so sorry for taking so long to update. School, homework and projects are delaying me, and not to mention that I've been having major writers block lately....I've been reading this series as well, they're called The Mortal Instruments series. I'm currently on the third, City of Glass, and it's amazing. **

**You all should read them :D**

**Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! YES Anthony's finally arrested and out of there! Even I'm happy...I hated that idiot. **

**Also, I'll try and update again soon. But I'm going to update my other story later on today...or tomorrow so I'll be leaving now. **

**Thank you for reading, remember if you enjoyed this chapter...REVIEW! Let's reach six!**

**SO REVIEW! **

**Review button haha :D**

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	25. kiss me goodbye, i'm defying gravity

It has been seven magnificent days since Anthony's arrest. There's been no drama or slight disputes within the Cullen household, and it was driving Emmett mad. He was currently perched against the armrest on the living room couch with Rosalie tucked beneath his bulging arm. He glanced down at her and placed a chaste peck against her temple, recalling on that day. Quite frankly, Emmett believed that he wasn't going to see Rosalie again. He actually thought that he was going to die on that day, that Anthony was going to defeat him. But of course, Emmett was mistaken.

He gazed down at Rosalie as she watched television, studying her different expressions and reactions and engraving them into his memories forevermore. Suddenly, he was met with his favorite pair of azure eyes and flashed down is signature dimple filled grin. "May I help you?"

She cocked an eyebrow playfully at him. "If I'm not mistaken you're the one that's been staring at me for the passed half hour."

"So, you noticed, huh? Why didn't you speak up beforehand so that I could have stopped bothering you with my embarrassing ogling?" Emmett chuckled deeply.

Rosalie shook her head at him and flashed a row of pearly whites. "It didn't bother me. It was quite flattering actually."

"Flattering, huh?"

"Very." She replied, concealing her face in the crook beneath his arm. He wasn't having any of that though. Instead Emmett threw his arm off of Rosalie and gently shoved her down horizontally onto the extra space of the couch. She landed with a huff and propped herself up onto her forearms.

A lighthearted purr escaped Emmett's chest as he flippantly hauled his body over Rosalie's. He agilely landed with his hands supporting his weight on either side of her head. The tip of his nose was barely touching hers when he spoke. "Hey babe, how's it going?"

"Oh you know, just lying around."

He gazed down at her lovingly. Knowing that he'd never want anyone else, knowing that he'd love her forever, and knowing that he'd always be there to protect her. Very rarely did Emmett have his serious moments, and these where one of them. He went from giant teddy bear to commando in less than five seconds. "Rosie, you love me, right?"

Rosalie sighed and eyed his lips as she spoke. "Why do you ask me questions that you already know the answer to, Em?"

"Because you're too good to be true, you're too fucking amazing to be real, Rose…and I just really like hearing you say it."

She smiled cheekily and played dumb. "Say what?"

"You know what." He said softly, kissing the tip of her nose.

"What that you're incredibly sexy with those adorable dimples and that mop on your head?" She questioned, wiggling her eyebrows.

Emmett rolled his eyes. "I don't have to be reminded that I'm sexy, I already know I am."

"Cocky much?"

"And my hair is not a mop." He added in a quite dejected tone, seeming to not have heard her last remark, or just chose not to.

"I'm joking, Em. Your curls are gorgeous." She gushed.

"Really?"

She laughed at him until she had tears stinging her eyes. "Yes, really."

"Good." He breathed against her flushed face before finally connecting his lips to hers. She parted her lips slightly, allowing him entrance, but a low moan escaped causing a brutal blush to creep up onto her cheeks. Emmett's lips where slow, but urgent as they trailed light kissed down her neck. As his left hand supported his weight above hers, his right hand traced the contours of her body. His hand skimmed over her hair, passed her shoulder, and lightly against the side of her breast until he reached her waist. He fiddled playfully with the hem of her blue tank top, gradually lifting it as he curled his fingers securely around her waist and gave it a gentle squeeze. In response to his touch, Rosalie wove her hands through his chocolate curls, giving them a light tug as she made him bring his lips back to hers which where nipping at her exposed neck.

Emmett brought his hand higher up her shirt, gliding his fingers tenderly over her belly. He felt goose bumps instantly emanate from her skin beneath his gentle hand. A light chuckle escaped his chest as he opened his eyes and removed his lips from Rosalie's. He gazed down at her, relishing the way she looked in that precise moment. Beautiful golden ringlets strewn out around her face, her eyes where still shut in sheer ecstasy and her lips where unnaturally red and swollen from the force behind Emmett's passionate kisses. Without thinking, Emmett leaned down and placed small kisses above both of Rosalie's closed eyes. As he leaned away, her eyes slowly fluttered open and gazed up at his. With just one look, he knew what she wanted. "Rosie, are you sure?"

She gave him a small smile and nodded her head once, never breaking eye contact with him. He let out a shaky breath as the hand he had placed beneath her shirt began to slowly ascend towards her arched back. As his hand traced the satin like smoothness that was her skin, a startling voice rang around them like the breaking of glass. "Hey you two love fiends, enough with the tonsil hockey, its kind of gross."

Emmett groaned and let his head fall down against the crook of Rosalie's neck and shoulder. "Why are we always interrupted?" He whispered, more so for her ears than anyone else's but apparently Tristan still heard.

Tristan grinned, "Because Emmett, this is hardly the place to be doing such a thing." With that final word, he exited the living room and headed towards the nearest hallway.

Still in the same position as moments before, Emmett slowly removed his hand from underneath Rosalie's tank top and rose to his feet. He stared down at her still body on the couch and extended a hand to help her upright. As she rose to her feet, Emmett ran a hand through his curly hair in an attempt to calm its disarray, and right after smoothed out his wrinkled black t-shirt. As they turned towards the kitchen, Rosalie had already begun walking, but Emmett seized her hand and heaved her backwards against his body. "I don't think I'm all right with the others seeing you the way you look now." He breathed seductively down her neck causing a quiver of desire to run up her spine, and her knees to instantly buckle.

"And how do I look now?" she replied in the same seductive tone as his, two can play that game.

Emmett ran a hand down her arm and trailed his fingernails lightly against her exposed waist. "Oh, I can name a few things." Her head fell as she glanced down at herself; her shirt was raised on both sides, but more on the left than on the right. It was so elevated that it revealed the base of her black lace bra.

Rosalie instantly flushed. "Oops." She hadn't realized her shirt had still been raised.

Emmett chuckled darkly and tugged down on the hem of her tank top, adjusting it for her. "It's all right, babe, it was hot."

"It was _hot_?"

Rosalie swiveled her head around on her shoulders to glare at Emmett. He had a shit eating grin plastered onto his face. "Yeah Rose, total-"

A sudden shriek and Tristan's alto booming voice made Emmett's voice catch in his throat. The couple instantly followed the sound of his voice into the kitchen. When they reached the entryway, Emmett bumped into Rosalie as she halted mid stride. Both of their eyes widened in unison as they attempted to stifle the chuckles escaping them. "Well, this is by far worse than Rose and me on the couch." Emmett whistled.

There at the far end of the kitchen stood Edward and Bella. Well who they thought was Edward and Bella. Bella stood with her bare legs wrapped around Edward's shirtless waist and he stood propping her up with his arms against the refrigerator. Her hands where still tangled in his bronze hair as they gaped back at us with red stunned faces. "What is up with you all today? Is this like your make-out session time or something?" Tristan snickered.

Edward immediately removed his hands from the sides of his wife's head and slid them down to curl them around her waist so she wouldn't fall backwards as he stepped away from the refrigerator. Bella disentangled her ankles from around him and slid down to her feet. She pulled the overly large shirt down as far as it could go, but it only descended midway passed her thighs.

"Uh, what do you mean?" Edward asked a little disoriented.

Tristan scoffed. "Well, when I got here I found these two sucking face on the couch by the front door, and now I walk in here and I see my sister and you about to have sex in the damn kitchen!"

Bella's eyes widened. "We where not about to do…that! We where just...um we where-"

"Give it up, love. Your brother's not stupid, you know we where about to." Edward winked down at her, flashing her a gleaming lopsided grin. She blushed fiercely and glanced down at her feet nervously.

"Well then, now that we've covered that," Rosalie interjected, and saving everyone from further embarrassment, "who wants food?"

A chorus of 'me's' and 'I do's' rang out excitedly through the kitchen. "All right then, now who wants to help?"

Emmett immediately perked up and shot his hand up in the air as if still in grade school, "Oh oh, I do! And plus, I have a feeling Bells and Eddie over there need to go upstairs and finish a little something."

Bella and Edward glanced around the room nervously, but when they caught each other's lust filled eyes, they where instantaneously hauling ass out of there. Tristan stood beside Rosalie and Emmett with boredom written all over his face as he stared at the spot Edward and Bella had once stood. "Yeah okay, I'm going to head on over to the living room and watch some TV. By the way, do you guys mind if I call over Jen and Jasper? They where spending the day with their parents but I think they'd be returning to the apartment by now."

"No that's fine with us, right, Emmett?" Rosalie waved off, turning towards the refrigerator and flinging the door open.

Emmett nodded. "Yeah that's cool."

When Tristan fled the kitchen, Emmett pivoted on his heel towards Rosalie. He snaked his arms around her waist and placed his head over her shoulder. Rosalie placed her hands above his on her stomach and allowed her head to fall back against his muscled chest. "Emmett, not now. I already offered us to cook, remember?"

"It'll just take a few minutes." Emmett's voice rang arrogantly around the kitchen.

Rosalie instinctively reached up and smacked the side of her lovers head forcefully. "Emmett!"

"Nah Rosie, of course not, you know I'm just playing," he said softly, twisting his head to place his lips at the hollow beneath her ear, "I would never take only a few minutes with you."

"Yeah sure," Rosalie replied desolately.

Emmett removed his hands from beneath hers and used them to turn her around and face him. He cradled her face in his hands lovingly. "I'm serious; you should know I would never do that with you. I adore you too much."

"Yeah, I guess." She grinned meekly. "All right, now, food time. What do you want to make tonight?"

"Hmm, how about chicken fried rice?" He asked excitedly.

Rosalie smiled at him. "If that's what you want then that's what we'll make."

As they began chopping and cooking up the ingredients for dinner, Emmett's thoughts where racing as Rosalie's face danced and flickered around his mind. He pondered over how hurt she had seemed when he spoke about only taking a few minutes with her. Her expression reminded him so much of when he'd arrived home from Anthony's a week ago that it yanked him away from the present and back to seven days earlier.

**Flashback **_[Emmett's POV]_

_We stepped through the foyer just to be met with two seething women. They stood side by side with their arms crossed tightly below their bust's and where leaning back against the main sofa. Edward and I skidded to a stop directly in front our loves as they both slowly took one mere step towards us. Rose's cheeks where vaguely flushed but her eyes where raging fire. Her top lip twitched slightly as four little words stabbed through the air around me like knives. "So, where were you?"_

_I gulped anxiously, knowing exactly why she was questioning me. "How did you find out?"_

"_Charlie called about ten minutes ago. How could you, Emmett?" Rose's voice finally wavered, taking on a more desperate note. I clenched my jaw as my nerves heightened; I glanced around and noticed that Edward and Bella had left the room._

"_I had to, Rose." I replied curtly, averting her penetrating stare._

_I noticed her hand fly up and my body immediately tensed, thinking that she was going to slap me. But instead, she placed her pale hand against my cheek and cupped it in her palm. My eyelids fluttered as I met her gaze and my heart nearly broke at the sight. Her oceanic eyes where pooling with unshed angry tears. "No, you didn't. You didn't have to do anything."_

"_Yes I did, Rosalie. I couldn't have him roaming around after what he'd done. There's no way in hell," my voice rose on its own accord the more I spoke, "you should've known I wasn't going to let this go."_

"_You promised me that you were going to drop it. You promised, Emmett." She gazed up at me sadly, but I could still see the fire flickering in her eyes. The deceit was what had her wound up. "Y-you lied to me. How could you lie to me?"_

"_I won't break a promise ever again; but Rose, you need to grasp the fact that I could not let this go! He fucking hurt you, he's your father and he caused you fucking pain. Did you really believe that I was just going to let that slide so easily?" I stared at her in disbelief; did she have no sense of recognition to who she was speaking to? She literally thought it was all going to be over and done with just like that._

"_Yes, I did believe that Emmett, because you promised me. But you fucking broke that promise and went waltzing along anyway! You could've gotten hurt or worse! Do you know what that would've don-"_

_Emmett raised a hand to interrupt her and scoffed. "Wait a second, this is about my safety? My safety, really, Rosalie? You need to seriously stop worrying about other people. I'm fine, the guys and me are smart enough to decipher what's a smart choice from a wrong one."_

"_Oh, well I'm sorry, I never knew it was a bad thing to worry about the people that I loved when they're in danger!" She yelled, throwing her hands up melodramatically._

_I gritted my teeth. "No but it can get kind of annoying sometimes. You need to trust me and the decisions that I make."_

"_So now I'm annoying too? Great."_

_I rolled my eyes and seized her face firmly between my palms. "No, Rosalie Lillian, listen to me. Instead of bitching at me for going out and putting myself in danger for you, you should be thanking me. Actually, I don't even need to hear your gratitude; just knowing that you are grateful for what I did is enough. I did this for you, because I didn't want to risk anything ever happening to you again. I wouldn't be able to bear it if I ever found you naked in the middle of a parking garage and lying in a pool of blood again. When Bella led us to you and…Alice, it nearly killed me seeing you both that way. I wasn't able to protect you, and I'm so sorry for that. But now…now, nothing will ever get you. Anthony's gone, and he's never going to hurt you again. Nothing will as long as I'm around."_

_With my hands still smothering the hell out of Rose's cheeks, I could still feel the feverish itch at the back of my throat from the intensity of my words. Expecting her to say something in return, I kept my emerald eyes locked on hers. All of a sudden, as quickly as a breathtaking smile broke across her face, she was attacking my lips hungrily with hers. All too soon, we broke apart in need of breath. "Thank you." She whispered against my lips._

**End Flashback**

A diminutive but genuine smile was etched permanently across Emmett's face as he recalled on that moment. He was so entranced in his thoughts that he didn't realize he'd been chopping the carrots so close to his index finger that was holding the vegetable in place. When he felt the separation of his skin as the knife swiftly sliced a few inches through his finger, he unconsciously dropped the knife, allowing it to clatter among the tile. "Holy shit! Fuck fuck fuck…..Ouch, Rose!" He screeched, jumping up and down on the balls of his feet.

Rosalie instantly dropped everything in her hands and dashed over to Emmett. "Em, let go of your finger, let me see what happened."

"No,,,ouch, it hurts." He whimpered, jutting his lower lip out as he stopped hopping.

Rosalie sighed and reached for his cut finger, prying off his other hand from around it. "Emmett…" She warned.

He slowly removed his hand and let it fall limp to his side. He averted his eyes from his hand as Rosalie let him towards the sink. She opened the faucet and placed his finger beneath cold water. "Oww…."

"Be a man and stop complaining." Rosalie chuckled. "It's no that bad, it's not even bleeding anymore you big baby."

"It was bleeding?!" A wave of vertigo washed through Emmett and he had to support himself by leaning against the counter. "Shit."

"You can take a million punches in the face, but you can't take a tiny little cut? You're unbelievable, babe." Rosalie quickly finished washing his small laceration and placed a band-aid over it to please him.

***

Subsequent to finishing and serving dinner, Jasper and Jennifer arrived with empty and greedy stomachs. After the gang ate until they where about to pop, they all headed over to the living room and sprawled around the area comfortably. "Let's watch a move guys. What're ya'll up to?" Jasper inquired, rising from his seat on the ground.

"Just stick anything in and turn off all the lights." Jennifer grumbled from beneath Tristan's arm.

Jasper shrugged and did as he was told. After turning on _Underworld_, he switched off the lights and returned to his spot on the ground beside the couch.

Emmett and Rosalie relaxed alongside each other and where both in utter bliss at the feel of their bodies touching. Emmett beamed in euphoria, glancing down at the lovely shadowed figure beside him and knowing that he'd always been correct when he called her his angel.

**Fist off, NEW MOON IS NEXT WEEK!! –Dies in seat- I'm so freaking excited for the premiere! I hope you all have fun watching it with your peeps :)**

**Anyway, sorry for the really long update, I hadn't updated since September O: Done (: Well, I hope you all enjoyed, His Angel! I love Emmett and Rosalie, and I hope it was satisfying and an entertaining read. I would also like to say thank you to all of my reviewers and those who've read this story! Thank you all so much. **

**I think this is my last chapter. Well, this was supposed to be my last chapter…but it feels like it's missing something. The end wasn't quite right…does it need an epilogue? Hmm I don't think so. **

**Anyway, yes there, I think I am done haha. I hope you all enjoyed! Emmett and Rose got their happily ever after. Poor Jasper though, no Alice D:**

**-Sigh- thank you for taking your time to read this story, check out my other story that I am currently writing entitled, Barely Beating. Hopefully ya'll enjoy that one too. **

**Anyway, REVIEW IF YOU LIKED! **

**Thanks, love you all.**

**Lori**


	26. long time no speak AN

**Hey everyone (: I have a question for you awesome readers.**

**Should I make an epilogue?**

…**.Mmkay, that was it ahaha (: I'm just curious if one would be nice.**

***waves* Thank you.**

**Lori**


	27. when i look at you

**Epilogue** – **Eight years later**

"Ali!" Emmett's deep and booming voice traveled from the kitchen up to the second story of the white mansion. "Come down here, please."

Lithe footsteps where heard dancing swiftly down the staircase. A petite young girl with choppy golden hair and bright emerald eyes appeared at the entrance of the kitchen. "Yes daddy?"

Emmett and Rosalie both pivoted from the direction of the stove to look at their daughter. "Do you have all of your stuff ready for your first day tomorrow?" Emmett inquired, cocking an eyebrow at one of his most prized possessions.

Six year old Mary Alice skipped around the counter to halt in front of her parents. She craned her neck back to gaze up at her father and nodded her head eagerly. Emmett chuckled and scooped her up into his sturdy arms, "That's my girl."

Rosalie smiled slightly to herself as she continued stirring the dinner cooking over the oven. Her life literally couldn't get any better than how it was at that instant. She cherished and reserved every memory, dull or exciting, deep inside the confines of her heart because every second in their lives together was imperative. Her family, her daughter, her love, they where what created her new life, they made everything worthwhile. Emmett had saved her when she believed that she was lost for too long, when she couldn't be fixed and had no importance or significance to herself anymore. But as always, he pulled through. He stumbled through every perilous journey with her and never even considered giving it a second notion.

"Momma!" She was ripped away from her scattered thoughts by a shrieking but giggling voice.

"Yeah, hun?" Rosalie glanced away from the pot to where Emmett and their daughter had been standing moments before. The only difference was that now her husband stood there with a mischievous expression etched upon his face, holding his daughter upside down by the legs. Her short arms where dangling above her, almost reaching the tiled tarmac and her face was flushed with the amount of blood ceaselessly rushing to her head. Rosalie gazed at them for a split second before shaking her head in incredulity. "You two are a pair freaks, you know?"

Mary Alice let out another squeal of delight as Emmett flipped her around in his arms and somehow situated her on his shoulders as he wrapped his fingers around her knees to keep her from falling. She buried her own fingers in his chocolate curls and giggled. "Daddy, it's time to cut your hair, don't you think?"

"No way! I've had my hair like this since before I met your mom." Emmett responded, "and plus she likes it."

Rosalie chuckled and glanced at her husband. "Whoever said I liked it?"

"Uh, you did." Emmett countered, flashing her a dimple filled grin.

She rolled her eyes and focused on the food at hand once again, "when are the other's coming, again?"

At the precise moment that those words escaped her lips, the doorbell rang, repeatedly. "That's probably Edward."

The doorbell continued to ring constantly until Emmett reached the front door with Mary Alice still perched upon his shoulders. He released one of his hands from her leg and grasped the doorknob, swinging the door open. "Uncle Edward!" The endearing little girl bounced on her father's shoulders, antsy to greet her uncle.

"Hey, squirt," he smiled widely and reached over to obtain his niece from Emmett. Once Emmett knew that Edward had a firm grip on her, he released her tiny legs and allowed her to be carried off of him.

As Edward swung and twirled Mary Alice around the living room, Emmett had faced Bella and gave her a soft kiss on the cheek. "How are you doing, Bells?"

"Everything's going good, Em, thanks. And how are things here?"

"Fantastic," Emmett grinned, "by the way, where's Tyler?"

Hearing his name, Bella's son peeked from behind one of her legs. Emmett crouched down to look him in the eye, "Hey, Ty. You know better than to hide from us in this house. You've known me for seven years and every time you come over you act as if you've never met me. What's up with that, little man?"

Tyler shrugged and side stepped from behind his mother. Emmett chuckled and planted a kiss on the crown of his messy bronze head before rising to his full height once again.

Subsequent to Bella hanging her coat and closing the front door behind her, Emmett led his guests to the living room where Edward was tickling a teary-eyed Mary Alice. "Eddie, leave my little girl alone and let her breathe."

Edward laughed loudly and set her down onto her unsteady feet. She toppled over and landed on her rear as she giggled and fought to catch her breath, making Edward almost double over in irrepressible snickers. Emmett picked her up effortlessly and placed her on the couch before he and Edward joined the others a few feet away. Edward eyed his son and sighed, taking notice of his evident but hushed discomfort. Kneeling down to his level, Edward spoke. "What is it, sport?"

Tyler fiddled with his hands and shook his head quickly, not once looking his father in the eye. Edward placed a gentle hand beneath his chin, tilting his head up so that he could look him in the eye. "You don't need to be shy here. This is your Aunt Rose and Uncle Emmett's house, remember? You could even call it your second home."

In response, Tyler's brow furrowed as he caught his bottom lip between two rows of diminutive white teeth, a habit he'd clearly picked up from his mother over the years. "Do they like me?"

"Of course they do, Tyler. They love you," Edward assured his son softly, "now, come here."

Edward opened his arms and Tyler smiled as he fell into them and clutched at his shirt tightly. Instead of releasing him, Edward lifted him, since he was still pretty small for his age, and set him on the couch along side Mary Alice.

Emmett had been watching the interaction from where he stood and was instantly concerned for his nephew. How could he not think that they didn't like him?

Once Edward had concluded with Tyler, Emmett pulled him aside as Bella left to the kitchen to assist Rosalie with the dinner. "Ed, what's up with him?" he asked, crossing his arms.

Edward raked a hand through his copper colored hair and glanced at his son before responding, "Ty's been having some difficulty interacting with the other students in his first year at the elementary school. His teacher was telling Bella and me how he usually keeps to himself and how he's never near anyone else. He doesn't speak much either."

Emmett's heart sank, "Shit, really? Do you know why? Has he at least spoken to you guys about anything? Have you tried taking him to his pediatrician?"

"Chill, Em," Edward warned, "No, I'm not sure why. He speaks to us, but not about any problems he may be facing. And I've contacted his doctor who said that this could be 'common' with children his age. Bullshit, I know that's not common."

Emmett nodded in agreement and exhaled a deep breath. "Well, I'm really sorry, man. I hope things get better with him and he begins opening up more."

"Thanks, I hope so too." Edward appreciated before walking over to the couch and sinking into the cushions between the two children.

Not sure of his ensuing movements, Emmett rubbed at the stubble growing faintly at the side of his jaw and ambled in the direction of the kitchen. When he reached its foyer, he leaned against the wall unnoticed by Bella and Rosalie and settled on watching them as they spoke to one another. He still couldn't grasp the fact that Rosalie was his, _all_ his. He sees her more as a prize, perpetually fortunate that she chose to be with him in return. Emmett knew that he could have never asked for a better family. For the one he currently had, has been more than he would ever desire. His wife, his Rosalie, was the one he'd awaken smiling for in the early hours of the morning, she was the foundation sustaining his bliss, she's made him smile throughout the worst times ever imaginable. Without her, he would have never known how it felt to truly love someone the way he loves Rosalie. He felt devoted to her, as if they where specifically created to eternally be together.

As if the shape of their arms where molded distinctively to hold each other throughout the night, and no one else.

But then after a wonderful year together, they gratefully and joyously brought their Mary Alice into the world and everything was beyond perfect. They had created a family on their own. Emmett's heart felt as if it where swelling, growing and creating space for the little girl he'd created with his wife. His life, their life together, was what he'd define as sheer perfection.

Emmett laughed to himself as he realized the way one of his hands had shifted up his body, towards the spot on his chest directly above his pulsing strong organ. He allowed his hand to fall back to his side as he finally stepped into the kitchen. Rosalie and Bella shot him an acknowledging glance before concluding their conversation. Emmett smoothly slipped past the counter and wrapped his arms around his wife's waist before burying his head in her neck and nuzzling her gently.

Rosalie sighed, "Em, not now. Can't you see I'm talking to Bella?"

"But you guys finished," Emmett replied, his voice muffled behind her hair.

"It's still rude."

Bella's sweet voice broke out into a fit of giggles, "Guys, relax. I'll go check on Edward and the kids."

Once she'd fled, Rosalie reached behind her and teasingly slapped at the side of Emmett's head. "Ouch, Rosie, what was that for?"

"For being rude when I was talking to our guest." She responded, prying herself away from Emmett's arms.

"Oh please," he scoffed, weaving his index finger around a belt loop on her jeans and heaving her back against him. "Bella, Edward and Ty are everything but guests here. They lived here for like a million years before moving out."

Rosalie sank back against Emmett's chest, "they lived here for one year and a few months after we got married, don't be so dramatic."

"But still, Rosie, it's my brother we're talking about. How the hell is he considered a guest here?" Emmett chuckled huskily into her ear, before lightly nipping at it.

She nodded in conformation as Emmett twirled her and held her hands in his firmly. Gazing into each other's eyes, they both equally knew what the other was thinking. "Did you truly believe that all of this would happen to us? That we'd still be this happy after everything that's occurred in the past?"

"Anthony had created the horrid life you once had," Emmett began in response, feeling her instantly tense in his arms. "Wait, let me finish, Rosalie. Yes, he did do those awful things to you, but that led us together, to a new life. Do you ever think your life would be better off without me?"

Rosalie shook her head weakly, "better off, Em? Without you, life wouldn't be worth living. You're the reason I'm here today, madly in love with the perfect man and being the mother to the most amazing daughter anyone could ever ask for."

Emmett smiled, revealing the shadowed dimples on his cheeks, "I love you so much, sweetheart."

"As I love you," she replied truthfully.

Emmett reached up with his hands to brush away the wandering hairs that had fallen in front of her blazing sapphire eyes. Instead of removing his hands from her though, he allowed his fingertips to ghost over the contours of her face, memorizing her for the umpteenth time. Emmett angled his head to the side and after breathing in her engaging scent, captured her lips in his. Rosalie pressed her clothed body flush against his and grazed her tongue against his bottom lip, asking for entrance. He willingly conformed and grinned against her parted lips as he tasted her, her mouth warm and inviting for him alone. Their tongue's battled in unison, both seeking dominance that the other wouldn't provide. At last, Rosalie chuckled and surrendered. "Fine, you win." She murmured against his lips breathlessly.

"Another easy victory," Emmett breathed arrogantly, tilting his head back up to see Rosalie clearly.

She huffed and smacked his chest forcefully, practically injuring her hand because his chest was more like concrete than flesh and bones. She winced and rattled her hand by her side in a way she thought seemed inconspicuous, but she couldn't conceal anything from her husband. "You see, Rosie? You should know by now to not hit me because you'll just end up hurting yourself. And I don't enjoy it very much when you're hurt."

Rosalie couldn't help the way her heart stuttered and reacted to his words. They where meant as a fact but they where said and meaningful. She smiled despite herself and pecked his cheek before disentangling herself from him to tend to the dinner they had both momentarily forgotten about.

Skipping towards the stove, Rosalie lifted the pot and cheerfully glided over to the dining room with Emmett at her heel. "Dinner's ready!" He yelled across the house so that the others could hear.

After the four adults and two children where all situated and prepared to consume pasta, they began serving themselves and where each included in insignificant banter. Emmett, who was seated at the head of the table, caught movement in his peripheral vision at the opening towards the living room and glanced up from his plate. A grin broke across his face as he saw Jasper walking towards them with a timid looking Hayley by his side. Jasper gave her a hand a reassuring squeeze and ran soothing circles on the outside of her hand. "Hey guys." He smirked.

Emmett slid out of his chair and stood to greet them, "Dude, I thought you weren't going to be able to make it tonight!" He boomed, bumping fists with Jasper.

"And it's nice seeing you again, Hayley. I'm glad you came," Emmett said sincerely, giving her a peck on the cheek. "Come and sit, serve yourselves some food."

As Emmett headed back towards his seat, Jasper and Hayley greeted the rest of the gang and sat down across from Edward and Bella.

"So, Haley, how are things going with your father's business?" Bella asked, "Jazz here was telling me a few days ago how you plan to take over one day."

Hayley nodded, "It's not going as good as I'd hoped. My older brother has recently decided that he wants to be the next owner as well, which isn't exactly fair because this is my dream. But since he's older he gets first pick on everything related to the corporation."

"I see. Well, I hope things go your way so that you can be the next owner." Bella smiled kindly.

"Thanks." Hayley grinned.

Jasper had met Hayley in a class he was taking a little less than two years ago. At first, he was literally terrified for the feelings he was experiencing around her. He hadn't felt anything remotely close to affection since Alice's demise and he swore to himself that he never would. But he couldn't control the way he felt, he couldn't control the way his emotions would spiral all over the place and confuse the hell out of him when he'd see or speak to Hayley.

However, soon enough, he couldn't manage it on his own any longer and was forced to tell her how he felt. The exact moment he'd declared his feelings for her, it felt as though his heart was being both shredded and mended at once. Shredded because he thought that he was betraying his Alice, he believed that loving someone other than her was deceitful. But then the realization of why his heart had been mended dawned on him. He knew deep down that Alice would want him to be happy. She wouldn't him lounging around alone for the rest of his life. She'd want him out, she'd want him to live life to the fullest, and most importantly, she'd want him to find love in someone else. And that very act right there, made Jasper the happiest man in the world because he knew for a fact that his Alice truly did love him.

Of course, he would never forget her. She was his first love and the woman he thought he'd spend the rest of his life with. There would always be a special place in his heart reserved just for her, but the rest of him belongs to Hayley now, and he doesn't regret a single moment with her thus far.

As Jasper chewed on his food, he couldn't help but fiddle with the bracelet around his wrist. Not once in the years that have passed had he removed it. "Jazz, man what's up? Where are Tristan and Jen?" Edward asked, noticing how quiet he'd been as he ate.

Jasper swallowed the bite he'd been chewing, "They're at his mom's place for some family get together. I was invited to go along as well, but I told Jennifer that I'd rather be here with you guys."

They all smiled in unison at his words.

A comfortable silence encompassed the dimly lit room and Rosalie glanced around the table. She glanced at every person individually, knowing that she loved and cared for each and every one of them, even the newcomer, Haley. They had all taken time out of their days to integrate her into their already content lives, and she'd never been more grateful. Saving the best for last, her eyes trailed towards Emmett. She placed a nimble hand over his forearm and he glanced up from his almost finished plate. Rosalie gazed up at him and shared her thoughts with him through her eyes, the open doors to her soul. He reciprocated and slid his arm out from beneath her hand, gently intertwining his fingers amid hers.

Bringing her hand up to his lips, Emmett placed a tender kiss to her knuckles and she straight away knew that he felt the same way.

* * *

**Now, officially complete (: I hope you guys liked it. And thank you all for reading my story and actually sticking through it.**

**What'd you think of the epilogue? O.o**

**Um um review?  
**

**Thank you**

**Lori**


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